Orphan
by MakoStorm
Summary: A certain gunslinger finds a young orphan after the Geostigma crisis will she be able to break the hard wall he built around his heart? Summary sucks but the story is good. please read.Rated T for later chapters. Some humor inside.
1. Chapter 1

Vincent looked around as he made his way to Seventh Heaven. Children were running around laughing, smiles on their faces. It was hard to believe that these were the children that were sick with the Geostigma not to long ago. He felt a small smile form when he saw one of the smaller children run into the open arms of a woman standing on her front steps.

As far as he knew all the orphans from Seventh Heaven had been taken in by loving families, thus explaining all the smiling faces around him. Tifa had adopted the young boy Denzel, whom had become good friends with Marlene.

Two children raced towards him, laughing happily. The little girl in front was looking over her shoulder at the boy chasing her and wasn't watching where she was going when she crashed into Vincent.

She landed on her rear and looked up at him with wide eyes. Vincent knelt down and helped the child to her feet. "You should be more careful." He told her gently as he straightened up. "Where do you live little one?"

The little girl smiled. "With my new mommy. She's over there." She pointed t where a woman was watching them intently. Vincent nodded a greeting to the woman which was returned warmly as the woman obviously recognized him as one of the heroes from AVALANCHE.

"I'm Abigail Turner. What's your name?" the girl asked him.

"Vincent Valentine." Vincent replied, his cloak hiding his smile.

"That's a nice name. you're named after a holiday." Abigail said, laughing.

"Abigail." Her adopted mother called. "Time to come home. It's getting dark out and a storm's coming." Vincent looked up and sure enough storm clouds were rolling in fast.

"Coming mama! Bye Mister Valentine!" Abigail said, waving to him as she ran towards her mother.

He watched as the woman ushered Abigail inside and as others did the same till all the children were safely indoors then continued on his way to his original destination.

Rain drops started to fall and he quickened his pace. Pretty soon it was a downpour. He put his cloak over his head and took off at a jog. He jogged past a dark alley way and his heightened hearing picked up a small whimper. He stopped abruptly and stood at the alley entrance. "Is someone there?" he called and was answered with another whimper.

He walked down the dead end ally and found a little girl huddled up in a dark corner behind some trash cans, clutching a stuffed Chocobo. She was filthy, covered in mud and her clothes were ripped and torn. She looked no more than four or five years old.

He knelt in front of her and reached out with his human hand. She flinched in fear and pressed herself into the corner as far as she could go, trying to put as much distance between herself and Vincent as possible.

"It is alright little one. I will not harm you. I want to help you." She stared at him with eyes filled with mistrust. He put his hand closer and she whimpered again. "I can take you somewhere where you can get clean clothes and something warm to eat." The prospect of food overcame the girl's fear and she shuffled warily over to him.

He picked her up and cradled her soaked form against him, wrapping his cloak around her shivering figure.

He walked out of the alley and to the next street where the Seventh Heaven was located.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Kiara." She answered weakly.

He arrived at the bar and pushed open the door. Tifa, Cloud and the gang looked up from their drinks as he entered.

"Hiya Vince. Whatcha got there?" Yuffie asked, looking at the covered bundle in his arms.

He uncovered Kiara and Tifa rushed over. "Oh the poor thing. She must be one they missed on the street." She reached out a hand and Kiara gave a small cry, burrowing further into Vincent's arms and burying her face in his chest.

"It's ok sweety I won't hurt you. Why don't we get you cleaned up and into some dry clothes then I'll make you something to eat." Kiara looked at her for a minute before climbing from Vincent's arms and into her open ones.

Tifa carried her upstairs and Kiara's eyes never left Vincent.

"Hey Vince. Come have a drink with us, looks like you could use one." Yuffie said from the bar counter.

Vincent hung up his now soaking cloak and raised an eyebrow as he walked over. "Are you even old enough to drink?" he asked as he sat next to her.

She shook her head. "Nope. But that's why it's good to have a friend who owns a bar." She said, downing the last of her drink in one swallow.

"So where'd you find the kid?" Cid asked over his cigarette as Cloud passed a drink to Vincent.

"In an alley not far from here."

"What's her name?" Yuffie asked.

"She said her name was Kiara."

They sat in silence then ten minutes later the stairs creaked and Tifa came into view. "I cleaned her up and gave her some of Marlene's clothes. She has a small fever and she's malnourished. My guess is that she's been on her own for a while." She said as she put a pot on the stove. "Marlene and Denzel are looking out for her while I make her some soup." She smiled at Vincent. "You want some Vince? You look like you could use it."

Vincent shook his head. "No thank you Tifa. I'll be fine."

Lightning flashed and there was a crash of thunder then the lights went out. Since night had fallen no light came through the windows. "Great! Now I can't see!" Yuffie exclaimed. Vincent saw here outline stand up and walk across the room. There was a crash as she tripped and let out a string of curses as Cid and Barrett laughed.

"Tifa!" Marlene shouted down the stairs. "Something's wrong with Kiara!" Tifa ran up the stairs and Vincent followed.

They opened the door to see Kiara sobbing and shivering in a corner of the room, holding her stuffed Chocobo tightly.

"Kiara! What is it? What's wrong?" Tifa asked, hurrying over and kneeling in front of her. "Marlene. You and Denzel go downstairs." The children nodded and left the room.

Thunder crashed again and Kiara sobbed harder into the Chocobo.

_It's the thunder. _Vincent thought as he knelt next to the trembling child. "The thunder won't hurt you Kiara. You are safe in here." Upon hearing his voice she threw her arms around his neck. He picked her up and sat down on the bed.

"You go ahead and head back down Tifa. I'll take care of her." He said. She nodded. "I'll bring up some soup when it's done." Then she left, closing the door softly behind her.

He took a blanket that was folded up at the end of the bed and wrapped it around Kiara. He brushed her black bangs away with a gloveless hand and felt her forehead; it was uncomfortably warm. "You need to lie down. You have a fever and we need to get rid of it."

Kiara shook her head, tightening her hold around him as she gave a small cough.

Vincent sighed. "What if I laid with you? Will you lay down then?" she nodded and he stood up, pulling back the covers so she could climb in. he pulled the covers back over her and sat down on top, leaning back against the head board.

Kiara's sobbing had stopped but tears still flowed slowly down her cheeks as she clutched his arm.

He pulled his arm gently from her grasp and handed her the Chocobo instead. As she clutched it to her he noticed a scar going down her left arm like a blade slash. He ran his still gloveless finger over it and she shivered.

"What happened Kiara?"

"Fawther." Was all she said and he was surprised she didn't say daddy like most children her age did.

"What did he do?"

"He throwed a knife at me." Vincent's eyes widened. How could anyone do something like that to a child? "Why did he throw it at you?" he asked gently. "Mommy says he was dwunk."

Vincent controlled the rage boiling inside him and made sure not to let it show on his face.

"What happened to your parents?"

"Mommy took me away from fawther. But mommy got sick. She fell asleep and didn't get up anymore."

"Do you know what happened to you father?"

She shook her head.

The door opened and Tifa walked in with a bowl of soup in her hands. Yuffie came in behind her.

"Aww. Gee Vince didn't know you were such a softy." Yuffie commented on the sight before her, grinning. Vincent glared at her.

Tifa handed the bowl to Kiara who took it gratefully and began scarffing it down. "Wow. You know Yuffie I'm beginning to think she's somehow related to you. She eats just like you." Tifa said and Yuffie gave an indignant cry. "I do not eat like that!"

"Slow down Kiara. The food isn't going anywhere." Vincent said, a small smile on his face. "Are you even tasting the soup?"

Kiara stopped, her mouth still full of soup and nodded. "Yep. It's good." She said as she swallowed.

"Oh gods. Did Vincent just smile? Wow, where's a camera when I need one?" Yuffie laughed.

"Come on Yuffie. Stop bugging him. We'll be downstairs if you need us Vince." Tifa said, dragging Yuffie out.

Vincent looked back down at Kiara and saw she was finishing her last spoonful of soup. "Do you realize you ate that in under two minutes? That's faster than Yuffie."

She smiled.

Vincent took the bowl and pushed her back into a laying position, covering her up. "Now you get some sleep." He stood up and walked towards the door but stopped when a small hand grabbed his arm.

He turned back. "Will you stay with me till I fall asleep?" she asked and he nodded, sitting back down next to her.

He sat with her for a while but she showed no signs of sleepiness so he decided to try something his mother had done to him.

He listened intently for sounds of footsteps on the stairs because he knew Cid and Yuffie would tease him mercilessly if they found out.

When he heard nothing he stroked Kiara's hair and started to sing a lullaby his mother had sung to him long ago.

_When daytime turns to night_

_And the moon is shining bright_

_When you're tucked in tight_

_And everything's alright_

Kiara looked up at him and snuggled closer.

_Slip softly to that place_

_Where secret thoughts run free_

_There come face to face_

_With who you want to be_

Her eyelids drooped and she blinked a few times to keep them open.

_So swim across the ocean blue_

_Fly a rocket to the moon_

_You can change you life_

_You can change the world_

Her eyelids drifted shut.

_So don't be afraid_

_Life is yours to live_

_Take a chance because the best is yet to come_

_Make a wish_

_It's up to you_

_Find a dream inside _

_And make that dream come true_

_You don't need a shooting star_

_The magic's right there in you heart_

_So close your eyes_

_Believe_

_And make a wish_

The rest of the song was in Wutaian and he would have continued but had no need to since she was sound asleep.

He stood up, bowl in hand, and walked quietly out the door. He closed it quietly and turned to see Yuffie leaning against the wall, a small smile on her face. Vincent sighed, waiting for the teasing to begin.

"That was a Wutaian song. Where did you learn it?" she asked. Surprised Vincent answered. "My mother was from Wutai. She taught me."

She nodded in understanding. "My mother used to sing the same song. Reminds me of home, how it used to be." She said softly. "You think I'm gonna tease you about your singing don't you?"

He nodded.

"I won't. I think it's sweet what you did for her." She smiled. "People think you're a cold person but in side you're kind, that's what matters." Her smile became a grin. "Ok. After that completely un-Yuffie-like moment, has anyone ever told you that you have a nice singing voice?"

He shook his head.

"Well you do. Anyway, Tifa's waiting for you downstairs. Come on." She walked down the stairs and Vincent followed.

Me: Here to say the Disclaimer is everyones favorite ninja.

Yuffie: Hiya everyone. MakoStorm owns nothing Final Fantasy and does not own the song in this chap.

Me: Very good. I think Cid's at Seventh Heaven if you wanna go bug him.

Yuffie: I think I will go bug him. I'll steal those cancer sticks he sucks on day and night. See ya everyone.

A/N: Happy Thanksgiving everyone. So how was the chap? The whole Vincent singing thing popped in my head and wouldn't go away so i just wrote it down and i'm satisfied with how it turned out. What do you guys think? It'll probably be a few days before i can get the next chapter up. R&R please. Also try and go easy on me will ya? This is my first story that's gonna be over two chapters long and i'm very nervous about what you all will think about it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"How is she?" Tifa asked as they entered the room.

"She's asleep now." Vincent replied, sitting down at the counter next to Yuffie.

"Hey Vinnie? What were you so mad about when we brought the soup up?" Yuffie asked and Vincent looked at her in surprise. "Don't look so surprised Vince. I could tell you were angry by looking at your eyes, now what was wrong?"

"Kiara was telling me about her father."

"Oh so you know about her parents?"

He nodded. "Her mother is dead and she isn't sure about her father."

"But that doesn't explain why you wee mad."

Vincent sighed and explained what Kiara had told him. Tifa clenched her fists in anger. "How could he do that! Drunk or not how could he throw a knife at his own daughter!

Cloud placed a hand on her shoulder and she calmed instantly, looking at him.

She sighed. "The question now is where she'll stay. I can keep her here for a while but not permanently, there isn't enough room."

"She can come with me." Vincent said. "I'm living here for now and a have an extra room in my home."

The others (except for Yuffie and Tifa) stared at him in shock. Tifa smiled. "That would be good. She does seem to have taken a shine to you."

The power came back on a few minutes later.

"Good. The power's back." Tifa said as she looked out the window.

"It's still pouring out there. Why don't you all stay here for the night? You'll be a little cramped but it's only for one night."

They all nodded. "Ok. Cid, Barrett and Yuffie can sleep in the kid's room, I don't think they'll mind. Cid, Barrett if I catch any of your foul language around the children you'll get it. Nanaki I guess you can sleep wherever you want, and that leaves the couch for Vincent."

_Later that night_

Vincent opened his eyes when he heard small footsteps heading in his direction. He lifted his head and saw Kiara standing in the doorway that connected the bar to the living room.

"What is it Kiara?" He asked, sitting up.

She bowed her head, looking at her feet.

"Is it the thunder again?"

She nodded, looking back up at him. "Can I sleep with you?" she asked quietly.

Vincent nodded. "Of course."

She walked over and climbed up next to him as he laid back down. She snuggled close to him and he hesitated before putting an arm around her.

"Good night Kiara."

"Good night." She answered sleepily.

Vincent closed his eyes and drifted back into sleep.

0

0

Yuffie yawned as she walked down the stairs.

She got herself a glass of water then noticed the door to where Vincent slept was open.

Curious, she peeked her head in and smiled.

She walked in silently and picked up the blanket that had been dropped on the floor and draped it over the two. Kiara smiled in her sleep and grabbed the edge of the blanket, pulling it closer to her chin.

Yuffie brushed a strand of hair from Kiara's face and gave one last look at the pair before walking out, closing the door softly behind her.

0

0

"Well I'll be damned. I don't believe it." Cid said as he stared at the pair the next morning. "Never thought I'd ever see Vincent like that."

Tifa smiled, "I think Vincent's getting attached to her. Who knows, maybe she can get him to come out of his shell. Get him to open up."

Cid shrugged. "Yeah. Who knows. Anyway where's the Brat?"

Tifa grinned. "Cloud's getting her up."

Suddenly a high pitched scream filled the bar, causing Vincent to come awake in a flash, Cerberus in hand. He sat up, nearly causing Kiara to fall to the floor. "What is it?"

Tifa laughed and before she could answer Yuffie's yells were heard. "CLOUD STRIFE! YOU GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!"

Cloud ran into the room and hid behind Tifa. "What in the hell did you do?" Cid asked as footfalls were heard pounding down the stairs.

Yuffie ran into the room, wide awake and her green pajamas soaking wet, wielding Conformer menacingly.

"CLOUD I'M GONNA STICK CONFORMER SO FAR UP YOUR ASS IT'LL TAKE A SURGEON TO GET IT OUT!" she yelled.

Kiara giggled and Yuffie looked over at her. "Why are you wet miss Yuffie? And why are you trying to kill mister Chocobo head?"

"Hey! The name's Cloud!" Cloud exclaimed.

Yuffie grinned. "Well Kiara, Chocobo head over there decided he'd pour a bucket of water on me to wake me up. Which I still have to pay him back for." She glared at him.

Kiara turned to Cloud. "Why didn't you shake her awake?"

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Because she sleeps like a rock."

"I DO NOT!" Yuffie shouted.

"I screamed in your ear and you still didn't wake up!"

"Why don't you just say your sorry?" Kiara asked innocently.

Vincent chuckled. "It's pretty bad when a five year old is smarter than you two put together."

Yuffie's jaw dropped. "Vincent. Did you just make a joke?"

"You should know better than anyone that I do not posses a sense of humor." Vincent said seriously.

Yuffie shook her head. "I don't know how you can say that and still keep a straight face."

"Years of practice."

"Ok," Tifa chimed in. "Now that everyone's calmed down who wants breakfast?"

"I DO! I DO!" Yuffie and Kiara shouted together.

Tifa laughed. "I knew she was just like you Yuffie." She looked at Kiara. "Ok Kiara what do you want?"

"French Toast!"

Tifa nodded. "French Toast it is then."

Kiara followed Tifa and the others out of the room. Vincent got Yuffie's attention and she walked over. "What is it Vince?"

"I was wondering if you could do me a favor?"

"Sure what do you need?"

"Will you take Kiara out to get her some clothes? She can't really keep using Marlene's"

Yuffie noddd. "Sure but why can't you do that?"

"It is not something I am used to doing." He replied, not meeting her eyes and feeling awkward.

She shrugged. "Ok then. I don't have any other plans so I don't see why not."

"Thank you."

_Later that day_

Vincent gave a small smile as he watched Kiara chase after Marlene and Denzel in her new jeans and green tee. Her fever had broken that morning and she had been allowed outside with the other two children. His smile turned to a frown as he went back to his thoughts.

Someone leaned against the wall next to him.

"Hey." Yuffie greeted.

He nodded in greeting.

She watched the children chase each other, waiting for him to tell her what was bothering him. Finally she asked him.

"What are you thinking about?"

He said nothing, staring at the ground. Yuffie sighed and started to leave. "I'm rethinking my decision to let her stay with me."

Yuffie looked at him questioningly, going back to her place on the wall. "Why?"

"Because of Chaos. What if I lose control? She'd be in danger because of me."

Yuffie shook her head at his reason. "Have you ever lost control of it before?"

"No"

"Then what are you worried about? If you've never lost control before what are the chances of it happening?" She placed a hand on his shoulder. "She wants to stay with you Vince. You saw how happy she was when we told her she'd be staying with you." She turned her gaze back to the kids. "I guess she sorta sees you as a parent now."

"I've never raised a child. I wouldn't know what to do."

Yuffie grinned. "That's what you've got us for. Teef and I can help you. Now you have no reason to turn her away."

Kiara saw them and stopped, waving at them with a smile on her face.

Vincent smiled and lifted his hand in answer. "No. I guess I don't."

Yuffie smiled knowingly as she saw his eyes soften as he watched the little girl.

Kiara ran up to them. "Come play with us!" she said excitedly, grabbing their hands and pulling them along. Yuffie laughed at er enthusiasm.

Vincent pulled his hand free from Kiara's grasp. "I'll watch. You go ahead."

"Ok!" Kiara said, unfazed, as she dragged Yuffie to Marlene and Denzel.

He sat down and watched as Yuffie dodged the children with her shinobi skills.

He leaned back on his hands and closed his eyes. A few minutes later the sun was blocked and he opened his eyes in time to see the three children lunge at him, tackling him and making him land on his back. He grunted and looked up at the emerald eyes of Kiara who was sitting on his chest.

"She told us to." She said, pointing to Yuffie who was keeled over, holding her stomach in laughter.

Vincent sat up, causing the three children to roll off, and glared at Yuffie.

"I-I'm s-sorry Vince." She said between laughs. "You were j-just to easy a t-target."

Vincent smirked and whispered something in Kiara's ear. She grinned and ran to the hose, turning it on and handing the nozzle to Vincent.

Yuffie's eyes widened and she backed away. "Vincent… Don't. you. Dare." She screamed when he squirted her and she ran. He kept the hose locked on her until she was soaking wet for the second time that day.

He turned to the laughing kids. "What do you think children? Is that enough punishment?"

The children nodded but he shook his head. "I don't think so considering I haven't gotten her accomplices yet." He turned the hose on them and they squealed as the water hit them. They ran and he focused his attention on Kiara, who ran behind Yuffie causing the shinobi to be blasted again.

"VINCENT!" She screamed as he turned the water off and walked into the bar.

"You are about to have three wet children and a soaking ninja walk in." he told Tifa. "If they ask where I am tell them I'm out."

_That night_

"Marlene. Denzel. Time for bed." Tifa called, walking into the living room. She stopped and smiled.

The three children laid in a tangled heap in front of the tv which was still playing the movie they had been watching.

Cloud and Vincent walked in behind her. "Hey Cloud. Could you give me a hand?" Tifa asked as she picked up Marlene. He nodded, picking up Denzel who was mumbling incoherently.

"Do you want Kiara to spend one more night here Vince or is her room all set at your house?" Tifa asked.

"I'll take her home. Yuffie helped me finish the room earlier this afternoon." Vincent answered, bending down and picking up the sleeping girl.

Tifa nodded. "Ok then. Be careful going home."

Vincent nodded. "I will. Good night Tifa. Cloud." Then he walked out of the bar, careful not to wake Kiara.

0

0

Vincent pushed open the door to Kiara's room and placed her on the little twin bed. She made a small noise and opened her eyes sleepily.

"Go back to sleep." Vincent told her and she shook her head. "But I'm not sleepy." She said as she yawned.

"Sure you aren't." he commented, pulling the covers over her. "Good night Kiara."

She snuggled deeper into the covers, already half asleep. "Good night daddy." She mumbled before drifting into a peaceful sleep.

Vincent's eyes widened in surprise then softened as he watched the now sleeping girl.

He walked silently out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him, a decision made.

A/N: Sorry i haven't updated guys. I'v been trying to for the last two days but the document manager didn't want to cooperate. Hope you like the newest chapter. It's gonna be like this for the next two chapters but then the story will go into Dirge of Cerberus which is why I need help. I don't own the game and I need dialog from a certain scene. Think any of you DoC owners out there can help? If you can just email me and I'll tell you which scene i need.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing Final Fantasy (sob)

A/N: Make sure you read my note at the bottom, especially the last bit.

Chapter 3

"He wants to adopt her?" Yuffie asked with a smile lighting her face.

Tifa nodded also smiling brightly. "Yep. I knew it would happen sooner or later. They got attached to each other and I really think she can get him to open up more, he has been more talkative then he normally is."

Yuffie nodded. "Yeah I noticed that, hey you think we can get him over for Thanksgiving this year? We couldn't get a hold of him the last two years because he was always traveling but now that he lives here he doesn't really have a reason not to come."

Tifa looked thoughtful. "I don't see why not." She smirked. "Besides. If he refuses we can just send you over to bug him until he does come."

Yuffie gave a small laugh. "And I would do it gladly. I still owe him for soaking me the other day."

"You deserved that actually." The barkeeper commented. "Anyway, I'll ask him tomorrow."

0

0

_2 weeks later A.K.A Thanksgiving day_

Tifa opened the door to reveal Vincent and a smiling Kiara.

"Well it's about time. I was beginning to think you weren't coming. You two are the last ones here. Come on in." She stepped aside so they could walk inside.

As soon as they stepped in Marlene and Denzel started dragging Kiara off to play. Tifa stepped in front of them. "Dinner is ready. You can play after we eat." The kids groaned but followed her and Vincent to the table where everyone else was already seated.

Dinner was going on fine until a spoonful of potatoes smacked Cid in the side of the head. The table went silent and everyone looked at Yuffie who grinned. "Oops. Sorry old man. I was aiming for Vincent but he ducked." She pointed to the gunman who was sitting next to the now angry pilot. "You little brat!" Cid roared. Tifa, ever the peace keeper, placed a calming hand on his shoulder. "Now calm down Cid. She didn't mean to hit yo-" She was cut off when cranberry sauce hit her in the face.

She calmly wiped away the sauce and glared at a sniggering Cloud before picking up the bowl of mashed potatoes and bringing it down with a splat on his head.

A food fight ensued.

Vincent stepped away before any of the food could hit him and watched as the three children gladly joined in while giving off cheers. He thought about pulling Kiara out of the fray but thought against it and allowed her to have some fun.

The food fight lasted a good ten minutes and Vincent watched with a smirk as Marlene clumsily threw a pie at Barrett's head. He narrowed his eyes. There was one person he didn't see: Kiara.

He heard a noise behind him and turned in time to have an apple pie splat him in the face. The fight instantly stopped as everyone looked at Vincent and the laughing Kiara in front of him. A minute later they all burst out laughing.

0

0

"Well that was fun." Yuffie commented as she finished cleaning up the mess a few hours later.

"Yep." Kiara agreed from her place on the floor by the doorway. The rest of AVALANCHE were in the living room. They decided that since Yuffie started the fight she could clean up the mess.

Kiara had decided she would stay and talk to Yuffie, helping her from time to time, after she got cleaned up of course. She was once again wearing some of Marlene's clothes since hers were covered in food.

"Hey Yuffie, do you like daddy?" Kiara asked innocently as Yuffie wiped the table down.

Yuffie's hand stopped and she looked over at the raven haired girl. "What makes you think I like him?"

"Because you always stare at him when he isn't looking and you're the only one who calls him 'Vinny'. Oh and you hang out with him all the time."

Yuffie just stared at her._ Am I that obvious? _She asked silently. She sighed and knelt in front of Kiara. "If I tell you do you promise you won't tell?" Kiara nodded. "Yes I like him. But don't tell him. I'll tell him sooner or later." _Yeah right._ She thought as she said this._ Maybe when hell freezes over._

"If you like him you should tell him."

Yuffie shook her head. "You're five. What do you know about love?"

"I love daddy."

Yuffie laughed. "That's a different kind of love kiddo. Mine's different."

She stood up. "Come on. Let's go see what the rest of the gang's up to. Then we can go bug Cid."

0

0

"What's that one?" Kiara asked, pointing at a group of stars in the night sky.

"That's the constellation for Leviathan, the god Yuffie and her people worship." Vincent answered.

"Why do they worship him?"

"You'd have to ask Yuffie that. Every person who worships a god does so for their own reasons. Then there are those who worship nothing and rely on themselves to survive instead of believing in a god."

"Do you believe in a god?" She asked curiously.

Vincent looked at the ground. "I used to believe in Leviathan but I haven't in a very long time."

"Why?"

Vincent sighed. "That's enough questions for today." He said quietly as memories of Lucrecia and Hojo's experiments popped in his head. "Let's go inside. It is well past time for you to be in bed."

She stood up and yawned. "Do I have to?" She whined, her eyes going round making her look like a lost puppy. Vincent nodded his head. "Yes you have to, 'The Face' doesn't work on me. I'll have to have a talk with Yuffie for showing you that."

Kiara grinned but it soon faded into a frown.

Vincent placed a hand on her head. "If you have the nightmare again you know where I am."

She nodded, giving him a hug before running inside.

She'd been having the same nightmare for a week now. Vincent had the feeling it was a memory from when she still lived with her father. In her dream she watched and cried as her parents screamed and yelled at each other. Her father would beat on her mother then turn his attention to Kiara. She always woke up then, crying, and would seek out Vincent.

He walked inside after a few minutes, locking the door and turning off the downstairs lights before heading upstairs. He opened the door to Kiara's room and peeked inside. Kiara was sitting In a corner of the room already dressed in her navy blue, cat printed pajamas and playing with a toy Yuffie had bought her. She looked up at him and grinned. Vincent raised an eyebrow then nodded towards the bed. She obeyed the silent command and leapt in bed, pulling the covers up around herself.

"Good night Kiara."

"Good night."

Vincent flipped off the light and closed the door so only a small crack of light shone in the room from the hall.

He walked down the hall, heading to bed.

Around two in the morning Vincent opened his eyes and saw Kiara's tearful face. He moved over silently and lifted the covers for her to climb in. She moved to her usual position, snuggled against him as he wrapped an arm around her.

"Do you think father will ever come back for me?" She asked, a small hint of fear in her voice.

"No. I don't think he will and even he did he wouldn't get you. You are my daughter now."

She smiled. "That's good." She said quietly. "I don't want to leave. I want to stay with you."

He stroked her hair softly until she fell asleep with a small smile on her face then closed his eyes, drifting off as well. This was definitely a Thanksgiving he wouldn't forget.

A/N: So sorry I haven't updated. I've got to study for exams coming up and I have to devote most of my free time to bring my F in algebra up, (My teacher is an ass. He keeps losing my assignments which is why I have the F. Grrrr. He needs to be fired!) Ok I am calm now. I also have Christmas shopping to do, presents to wrap and I have another story I'm finishing, It's a Kingdom Hearts one if any of you are interested. ATTENTION ALL READERS: I still need the dialog for a scene in DoC, I had someone offer to tell me but they never replied back and someone told me to look on youtube but I can't find it there either so I'm still stuck. If I don't have that dialog then I can't get one of the story's chapters written so if you guys don't want this story to stop abruptly later on then I need your help. Also I need Christmas ideas for the next chapter since it will be Christmas time, I have a few ideas but I need more.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Vincent opened the door and Yuffie smiled at him, walking inside. "Hiya Vince. So where is she?"

Before he could answer Kiara came bounding down the stairs wearing a blue jacket, a small drawstring bag of Gil in her hand.

"Hi Yuffie." She greeted, stopping on front of them.

"Hey kiddo. Ready to go?"

Kiara nodded and wrapped her arms around Vincent in a hug before running outside.

Vincent handed Yuffie some Gil. "The little Gil she's collected over the last month is not nearly enough to buy all the Christmas presents she wants to get. This is for whatever she can't afford."

Yuffie nodded, grinning before walking out the door.

"Don't even think about using that for anything else Yuffie." He called after her.

She turned around and flashed him a look of false hurt. "How could you even think that vinnie?"

"It's easy. I mean it Yuffie, presents and nothing else."

She rolled her eyes and waved her hand at him. "Yeah, yeah ok."

He nodded and watched the two as they disappeared. _I'm never going to see that Gil again. _He thought as he walked inside.

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"I wanna get this for Uncle Cid." Kiara picked up a sphere about the size of Yuffie's hand and handed it to the ninja. Yuffie looked into the small peep hole and smiled. It was a complete replica of what space looked like around the planet. Stars and distant galaxies could be seen.

"That's perfect." She handed the sphere back to Kiara who cradled it to her chest with both hands.

"Here." Yuffie grabbed a shopping basket and placed the sphere inside before handing Kiara the handle.

It was funny watching the five year old waddle around with the big basket, trying to keep it off the ground. "You want me to take that?" Yuffie finally asked. Kiara shook her head, face filled with determination as she held the basket in one hand and reached for a pair of black sunglasses.

Yuffie grabbed them and handed them to her. "Let me guess. The shades are for Cloud right?"

Kiara nodded then looked up at the ninja. "I don't know what to get daddy."

Yuffie thought for a moment. "Well I'm getting him a new chain for Cerberus why don't you give him that and I'll get him something else?"

She shook her head. "No I wanna get him something special."

"Why don't you make him something? Nothing is more special then something you made yourself."

"Ok." She looked thoughtful then smiled. "I know what I'll make him!" she said excitedly.

"What?"

"You'll see." With that said she continued on her way, the basket making her wobble slightly.

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"We're back!" Yuffie called as she opened the door to Vincent's house.

"Daddy!" Kiara called, walking into the living room. She gasped then squealed in delight as she ran around the large bare Christmas tree in the corner of the room. Yuffie smiled as Vincent walked in with a box in his hands.

"Didn't think you were the decorative type Vince."

"I haven't done this in over thirty years I didn't even do it often when I was a Turk."

He placed his burden by the tree and Kiara opened the box to reveal old but pretty ornaments. She took out the angel topper and looked up at Vincent.

"Can I put the angel on top?"

Vincent nodded. "Once everything else is on then yes you can."

She took the angel and sat on the couch with Yuffie as he put the lights on. They laughed when he got himself tangled up in them about halfway through and then again when he could only get one side of the tree to light up. Finally the tree was lit and Kiara ran over and began putting ornaments on it's branches. Yuffie stood and helped, putting tinsel and garland on as well. When all the decorations were on Kiara ran over and picked up the angel. She stood there looking for a way to put it on without knocking the tree over. She gave a small 'eep' when Vincent picked her up and placed her on his shoulders. She smiled and stretched, placing the angel on top and making sure it was straight .

"Very good Kiara. It looks great." Yuffie complimented as she admired the tree.

Kiara smiled.

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_Christmas day_

Vincent grunted as someone jumped on his stomach and he opened his eyes to look at a wide awake and excited Kiara.

"Presents!" she cried, pulling at his arm.

Vincent looked at the clock. 5:30.

"It's to early Kiara go back to bed." He rested his head back on his pillow. Kiara pouted then, with a grin, yanked his covers off and ran from the room with them.

Vincent sighed and sat up. _That's it. _He walked out of the room and down the stairs. Kiara was standing by the tree, the covers still in her hands.

He walked over and she reached for a present. He stopped her by grabbing the covers and wrapping them tightly around her then, throwing her over his shoulder as she squealed, he walked back upstairs.

He walked into his room and dumped her unceremoniously on the bed. She wiggled out of the covers and looked up at him, puppy eyes in place.

"At six we will go down. I'm sure you can wait another twenty minutes." He laid down and pulled some of the bundled covers over himself thinking maybe he could have at least twenty minutes more sleep.

He was wrong.

Over the next ten minutes Kiara tossed and turned in restlessness. Vincent finally gave an exasperated sigh and pushed the covers off. "Come on."

Kiara cheered and bolted out of bed.

By the time he got down stairs she had already gotten most of her presents in a pile and had started opening one. She pulled out the doll that was inside and laughed happily.

Vincent smiled as she opened her presents.

When she had opened the last one in her pile he told her to wait there and went into the next room. He came back with a small covered basket. "This is from Yuffie and I." He handed her the basket and she gasped when she pulled off the lid. She pulled out a small gray kitten with a bow tied around it's neck. She hugged the kitten to her chest And it mewed, nuzzling her face.

She leapt up and into Vincent's arms, giving him a hug and kissing his cheek.

"Merry Christmas Kiara."

"Merry Christmas."

"So do I get anything?" he asked her as he placed her back on her feet.

"Yep. But you have to wait."

"And why do I have to wait?"

" 'Cause it's not done yet."

He smiled. "I see."

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_That afternoon_

"Uncle Naki!" Kiara cried as she ran into Seventh Heaven's living room.

Nanaki looked from where he was standing and smiled at her nickname for him.

She wrapped her arms around the firelion's neck and he used his nose to push her up on his back where he knew she'd go anyway.

"Hello Kiara. How are you?"

"Good."

Marlene and Denzel appeared in the room all bundled up in warm clothes. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"Outside in the snow. There has to be at least three feet in the backyard." Denzel replied.

Kiara slid off Nanaki's back and followed them."Kiara." she turned to Vincent and he tossed her her gloves and scarf. "Make sure you wear those. We don't need you getting sick on Christmas." She nodded, pulling on the gloves and running after her friends who had already gone out.

As soon as she stepped out a snowball hit her in the head and she glared at Denzel who grinned and ran off as she picked up a handful of snow and packed it into a ball.

She chased after Denzel but since his legs were longer he could maneuver through the snow easier. She took aim at him, taking a chance and let the ball fly, her aim was true and it hit him smack dab in the back of the head.

He bent down and made another snowball to throw at her when suddenly Marlene appeared out of nowhere and tackled him into the snow. Kiara joined her on top of him and they both began picking up fistfuls of snow and pelting him with it.

An arm wrapped around Kiara's waist and she squealed when it lifted her off of Denzel. "Now that doesn't seem fair. Two against one." Vincent's deep voice sounded. Kiara struggled as he tucked her under one arm. "Daddy! Put me down!"

Vincent smirked. "As you wish." He dropped her in a deep snowdrift. Her head appeared and she shook the snow off as she pouted up at her guardian. "That wasn't funny." She tried to look angry but Vincent could see the smile playing at her lips. He bent down and picked up an armful of snow then dropped it on her head.

"hey Vincent!" he turned and a snowball slammed into his head. "Why not pick on someone your own size!?" Yuffie taunted, throwing a snowball up and down in her palm.

"You mean like you?" He took a step forward but stopped when someone jumped on his back, wrapping their arms around his neck. "Help me Mar!" Kiara cried and Marlene tackled Vincent's legs, clinging to them. Denzel joined them clutching his other leg. "Now this is definitely not fair. " he swayed, trying to keep his balance as Yuffie rolled around on the ground, laughing her head off.

He finally lost his balance and fell face first into the snow. He heard laughing and looked up to see the rest of AVALANCHE standing in the doorway to the bar. Tifa was laughing so hard she had to use Cloud for support.

A bunch of snow fell on his head and he looked at his grinning daughter. "That's payback."

"Hey guys!" They looked at Tifa who was waving them inside. "Come on in and we'll open presents." Marlene and Denzel were off of him in a split second, already halfway to the door. Vincent stood up and Kiara latched herself onto his leg so she wouldn't have to walk. Vincent sighed and walked towards the bar, making sure to drag her through a snowdrift for her laziness.

When they got inside Kiara took off her coat, scarf and gloves then ran into the living room. Vincent followed her and she stayed standing till he sat down then climbed into his lap.

Tifa sat down by the tree and reached for the first gift, looking at the tag before giving it to Cid.

"That's from me." Kiara said proudly. "I picked it out."

Cid smiled at the sphere and laid a hand on her head, ruffling her hair. "Thanks pipsqueak."

"Here Vince." Tifa handed him a small red wrapped gift and he ripped the paper off, smiling at the handmade picture frame. Shells and glitter covered the entire frame and the picture showed the whole gang from last Thanksgiving. Everyone was covered in food and smiling happily.

"Yuffie helped me make it." Kiara said. "She says the shells are from Wutai."

"It's beautiful Kiara. Thank you." He wrapped an arm around her in a hug and she smiled.

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After everyone had opened their gifts they sat and talked about anything that popped up.

Cid looked over at the tree and spotted one last present way in the back. "Hey there's still a present back here." He stood and grabbed the long box, dragging it from behind the tree. Tifa's eyes widened and she looked away. Kiara shot her a curious look.

"Damn. This thing weighs a ton. It's addressed to you cloud."

Cloud walked over and ripped the paper off revealing a black leather case. He opened the case and pulled out a new buster sword.

"Wow." Yuffie commented. "Who gave you that?"

Cloud shook his head. "Don't know. There's no name."

Kiara and Yuffie noticed a blush on Tifa's cheeks as she stood up. "Guess you have a secret admirer, anyway I'm going to go make us some cocoa." She was gone in a flash and Kiara and Yuffie glanced at each other before plastering knowing grins on their faces and following.

Tifa was getting mugs when they walked in and closed the door. "You should have signed your name." Yuffie commented.

"what-what do you mean?" She turned

"Come on Teef. Drop the act. We know you gave it to him."

"If this gets out Yuffie Kisaragi I will personally hunt you down with Cid's Venus Gospel." The fighter threatened.

"Tell him." Kiara said.

"I was going to." She said quietly. "Once everyone left." There was a red tint to her cheeks and Yuffie grinned. "Why not tell him now while we're here?"

Tifa glared at her then smiled sweetly. "Ok I will, on one condition. You tell Vince."

"What!" Yuffie practically shouted, her face shocked. "What-how-how did you-what-what are you talking about!?" She stuttered out.

The fighter rolled her eyes. "I heard you on Thanksgiving. You were so loud I'm surprised Vincent didn't hear you."

Yuffie crossed her arms and pouted. "Fine. Wait till we leave you spoil sport." She pointed a threatening finger at her. "But if I find out you told anyone then I won't only hunt you down with Venus Gospel, I'll stick it where the sun don't shine."

Kiara giggled and Tifa gave a triumphant grin at winning the argument.

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"Bye guys. See you soon." Tifa waved as they all left.

As Seventh Heaven disappeared from sight Yuffie looked up at Vincent. "Hey Vince. Can I borrow Kiara for a few minutes?" Before he could answer she had grabbed Kiara's arm and they both ran back the way they had come.

Vincent sighed and leaned back against a wall to wait for them.

Fifteen minutes later he went to look for them.

He found them beside Seventh Heaven, peeking around the corner into the back yard, hands over their mouths to suppress their laughter.

He walked up behind them. "What are you doing?"

They whirled around, fingers to their lips. "Shhh." They motioned for him to look and he peeked around the corner.

Cloud and Tifa were kissing by the back door, quite passionately in fact.

Vincent rolled his eyes at the two girls and, shaking his head, grabbed them by the backs of their shirts and dragged them away.

"Vincent!" Yuffie exclaimed.

Cloud and Tifa instantly sprang apart, blushes on both their faces.

"Thank you Vince." Tifa called as she saw him drag them away. He nodded and dragged the girls out of sight. Tifa smiled then turned her attention back to the man in front of her. As their lips met again she thought, _This is officially the best Christmas I've ever had._

A/N: Merry Christmas everyone. So what did you think of the new chapter? For some reason I didn't like this one as much as the others, oh well what do you guys think? I've decided to post one more chapter before i go into DoC R&R please. Toodles.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Vincent looked over at Kiara and frowned. She was pale and trembling, her teeth chattering despite the warmth of the house. "Kiara? Are you feeling alright?"

She shook her head, leaning heavily against the arm of the couch. "I don't feel good daddy."

He stood and picked her up gently. "Then we should get you to bed." He said as he carried her up the stairs. He opened the door to her room and placed her on the bed, covering her trembling body. Felling her head he frowned. "You are warm. Get some sleep and we'll see how you feel in the morning." She nodded slowly and held her kitten whom she had decided to name Ash, to her chest, closing her eyes.

He brushed her hair from her face and kissed her forehead gently before walking out of the room. He cast one last worried glance at her before closing the door.

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Vincent woke up at four in the morning to see Kiara standing, swaying actually, by the bed. Her breathing was short and rapid and she was sweating profusely.

He sat up and she took a wobbly step towards him. "Daddy something's wrong." She said before she crumbled to the floor. He bolted next to her, cradling her against him. You could feel the heat radiating off of her from five feet away. "It hurts daddy." She cried, tears streaming as she clutched the right side of her chest.

"It's alright little one." He told her as he grabbed a blanket from the end of the bed, trying to keep the panic from his voice. He wrapped the blanket around her trembling form, laying her on the bed.

He quickly changed then picked her up again. "Let's get you to the hospital." He said as he grabbed his phone. She went into a coughing fit as he ran down the stairs, dialing Yuffie's number.

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Yuffie groaned and opened her eyes, reaching for her ringing phone. _Vince?_ It was four fifteen in the morning!_ Oh I'm gonna kill him._ She flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Yuffie." Vincent's voice held panic and she was wide awake at once.

"Vincent. What is it? What's wrong?"

"It's Kiara." He quickly explained and when he had finished Yuffie was already dressed and heading out the door at a run.

"I have to call Cloud and-"

"No I'll call them. You worry about Kiara and we'll meet you there."

"Thank you Yuffie."

"You're welcome." She hung up and dialed Seventh Heaven.

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Vincent met them outside and led them through the hospital at almost a run. "Cid and Shera are on their way. They stopped to pick up Barrett and Nanaki." Yuffie told him and he nodded as he opened a door leading to a small waiting room.

"They're running tests now. They haven't told me anything." He said as he fell heavily into one of the chairs. Yuffie sat next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "She'll be alright. Though she isn't your biological daughter she is a lot like you, she won't let something like this keep her down and she's as stubborn as I am."

He shot her a grateful look then looked at Cloud and Tifa as they sat down. Marlene climbed into Tifa's lap while Denzel sat next to Cloud. Both children's eyes were filled with worry and they were wide awake. Tifa leaned her head against Cloud's shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her.

Ten minutes later Vincent's phone rang and he answered.

"We're almost there." Shera's voice came over the phone. "Meet us out front."

"Alright." He hung up and stood. "The others are here I must go meet them."

Cloud shook his head and stood. "I'll meet them you stay here." Vincent nodded and sat back down as Cloud left the room.

He came back a while later with the others in tow. They all shot him comforting looks. "Don't worry Vincent." Cid said. "I'm sure the pipsqueak will be alright.

Vincent sighed and leaned forward so his elbows were resting on his knees. He clasped his hands in front of him and rested his forehead against them, staring at the floor.

He stayed that way for half an hour then the door opened and a doctor walked in. Vincent shot to his feet, followed closely by everyone else.

"How is she?"

The doctor sighed. "She's stabilized now. She has pneumonia, a deadly case of it. At the moment she has a fever of 104 and there's liquid in her right lung which is the cause of her labored breathing and the pain she felt."

"But will she be alright?"

The doctor shook his head. "At this stage it's too early to tell. We'll keep her under observation but really all we can do is give her medication and wait." He gave Vincent a sympathetic look.

Vincent stared at the ground for a moment then looked back up. "Can we see her?"

The doctor nodded. "Yes but only two at a time."

"You and Yuffie go." Tifa said. "She's closest to you."

The two nodded before following the doctor out of the room.

He led them to an observation window and Vincent looked into the dim room. Kiara was lying in a hospital bed in an uneasy sleep. She was hooked up to many machines around the room and an oxygen mask covered her nose and mouth.

He placed a hand against the glass, his heart breaking at seeing the normally energetic girl like that.

Yuffie wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest, tears falling. Vincent was startled by the contact but returned the embrace a few moments later.

"I'm going to sit with her. I don't want her to wake up in a strange place alone."

Yuffie nodded and watched him through the window as he walked inside and sat in a chair by the child's bed. He clasped her small hand in his and Yuffie closed her eyes, chanting a prayer to Leviathan for Kiara to be alright.

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Vincent sat with her all that day, keeping her small hand in his. He had told the others to wait at Seventh Heaven and that he'd call if there was any change. They had all agreed, everyone except Yuffie. She had refused point blank to leave and was currently sitting in the other chair in the room, her head laid back as she dozed.

Kiara's hand twitched and he looked at her as her eyes cracked open. Her glassy eyes glanced around the room in confusion then locked onto Vincent. "Daddy?" She whispered weakly.

"How do you feel?" He asked as he brushed away her bangs with his hand.

"Bad." She groaned. "My body hurts."

"You're ill. The sickness is making you hurt."

"Daddy I'm scared." Vincent stroked her hair. "Don't be. I'm here and I won't let anything hurt you." She tried to smile but was to weak. "Thank you daddy." She whispered quietly as her eyes closed and she started to fall asleep again. "Daddy?"

"Hm?"

"Will you sing to me? Like you did before?"

He nodded. "Of course."

He started to sing the song and she sighed as she feel asleep.

He looked up at Yuffie's now open eyes. Hers were filled with worry same as his.

"She'll be alright." She assured him for the hundredth time, standing up and heading towards the door. "I'm going to go get some food. Do you want anything?"

He shook his head.

Yuffie sighed and headed out the door, deciding she'd get him something anyway, knowing he needed to eat.

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Vincent's eyes shot open and he looked over at Kiara as she started to convulse.

The beeping of the heart monitor increased as her heart raced.

Doctors and nurses rushed in and Yuffie pulled Vincent out of the way.

"Come on Vince." She pulled at his arm but he stood frozen, staring at the convulsing girl. "Vincent." He turned his panicked gaze to her. "Let's get out of the way. Let them help her." She pulled at his arm again and he allowed her to lead him from the room. They watched from the window as a doctor stuck a syringe into Kiara's arm.

Yuffie placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her and she saw the worry, panic and…fear? Yes fear. Fear that he would lose the person he cared about more than life itself.

Kiara's convulsing stopped and Vincent let out a relieved sigh. Then the heart monitor flatlined as her heart stopped. The doctor started shouting orders and Yuffie fell to her knees in sobs as they tried to jump start her heart. After two tries Vincent slammed his fist into the wall as tears came to his eyes.

Then for the first time in over thirty years he closed his eyes and prayed to Leviathan. He prayed with all his heart and soul.

Beep. Beep. His eyes shot open as the monitor started beeping again. All the doctors and nurses showed signs of relief as they got the girl stabilized.

Yuffie's pained sobs turned into ones of relief and joy as she rested her forehead against the glass.

A doctor walked out. "We're stabilizing her now. That should be the worst of it. If we can get her fever down she has a chance. If we can get it down I'm confidant she'll make a full recovery."

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Vincent placed his hand to Kiara's head and nearly cried with relief. He walked over and shook Yuffie awake. "Yuffie. Yuffie wake up." Her eyes opened. "Vincent?" She rubbed her still red eyes. "It's gone. The fever is gone. Her head is cool." Yuffie gave a relieved sigh. "Oh thank Leviathan."

Kiara groaned and Vincent was by her side in an instant. Her eyes opened and she looked at Vincent. "Daddy." She said softly as she gave a small smile.

He sat on her bed and pulled her to him. "Oh little one you had me real worried."

"I'm sorry daddy." She looked over at Yuffie. "Hi Yuffie."

Yuffie smiled. "Hey kiddo. How are you feeling?"

"Better. I don't hurt so much anymore."

"That's good. That's really good."

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"Can we get ice cream when we leave?"

Vincent gave a small laugh. "Yes. We'll get some when we leave."

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_One week later_

Vincent carried Kiara through the front doors of the hospital and they were met by the rest of AVALANCHE. Kiara smiled and waved at them.

Greetings were exchanged and Kiara tried to get down to stand with Marlene and Denzel but Vincent tightened his hold and shook his head.

"Let's get you home."

Kiara shook her head. "You said we could go get ice cream." She pouted and Tifa laughed. "Ok then. Let's go get ice cream." The children and Yuffie cheered and Vincent couldn't help but smile, glad to have his daughter safe and well in his arms.

A/N: (Dodges many sharp and blunt objects.) Did I scare you? I got a lucky break today so I was able to finish the chapter but don't expect the next one for a while because I haven't even started on it yet. Well tell me how I did and R&R. TTFN. Ta ta for now.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own nothing Final Fantasy but Kiara is mine so if you wanna use her you gotta ask me first. WARNING: DoC spoilers so if you haven't played the game then be warned.

Chapter 6

_Two months later. Kalm._

Loud music from the festival below drifted through the window of the small inn room as Vincent opened the door.

Kiara instantly ran to the window over the bed and stuck her head out, smiling at the festival dancers in the street.

"Look daddy!" She pointed to a booth loaded with sweets and gifts. "They have moogle dolls!"

He looked out the window, a small smile on his face. "I see that."

She looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Can we? Please?"

Vincent shook his head. "It's almost time for you to be in bed Kiara."

"Oh come on. Please? Just this once?" She begged in that pleading tone that very few could resist.

He sighed as he stared down at her. Normally the puppy face didn't work on him but guess tonight just wasn't his night.

"Alright." He sighed in defeat. "Let's go."

"Yes!" She jumped off the bed and ran towards the door, motioning or Vincent to move faster.

Suddenly an explosion rocked the building causing Vincent to sway and Kiara to fall to the floor.

Vincent ran to the window and looked out.

A pillar of flame and smoke rose from the other side of the city.

"What happened daddy?" Kiara asked in worry as she climbed up onto the bed next to him, looking out the window. "What's going on?"

"I don't know." His gaze shot to the sky as airships and helicopters fell from the cover of the clouds, heading towards the ground. Soldiers in gray jumped from the ships to the ground in the crowded street and fired upon the civilians.

Kiara gasped as monster-like soldiers began dragging certain people off and killing the rest.

A helicopter came to hover in front of their window. Vincent grabbed Kiara as it fired a missile and jumped out of the window into the air as the building exploded. He drew Cerberus and spun around in the air, shooting the blades of the helicopter causing them to blow and the helicopter to fall to the ground.

Kiara coughed as she inhaled smoke from the now burning city. He looked down at her in concern. She had her eyes tightly shut and her face buried in his cloak. She still hadn't fully recovered from the pneumonia two months ago. She had most of her energy back but her lung wasn't fully cured and the smoke couldn't be helping it.

He jumped from roof to roof then landed on a small balcony. He knelt in front of Kiara. "Are you alright?" she nodded. He sensed someone behind him and twirled around, Shooting the three soldiers from the rooftop. He turned back to Kiara. "Stay close to me. Do not leave my side unless I tell you to. Do you understand?" she nodded and grabbed the edge of his cloak in her fists.

They moved through the city streets, Vincent shooting any soldiers that crossed their path.

"Look!" Kiara pointed to a group of five or six huddled civilians who were surrounded by soldiers. The soldiers seemed to sense them and turned, raining bullets down on them. Vincent pushed Kiara behind the shelter of some crates and returned fire, not a single shot missing.

Kiara ran ahead towards the civilians who were standing up.

"Kiara!" Vincent shouted.

She screamed as one of the monster-like soldiers leapt from the roof, tackling her to the ground. It took her shirt between it's teeth and ran off with her. Vincent didn't shoot, not wanting to risk hitting Kiara.

He ran after it and saw another one of the creatures join the first, a child also between it's teeth. The two ran through the open hatchway of a transport container and the door slid shut behind them. Vincent cursed and hit the hatch button on the side. A bullet hit the ground at his feet and he turned to fight off whatever soldiers dared to try and stop him as the hatch slowly opened.

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The creatures growled at the two children as they dropped them to the floor. The little girl back away as far as she could to get away from them but Kiara held her ground, glaring at the two beasts.

"Leave us alone!" She shouted, socking one in the nose with her small fist. It gave an enraged snarl and raked it's claws across her shoulder. She cried out, backing up next to the other girl as she clutched her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" The other girl asked in fear and worry.

Kiara nodded, gritting her teeth as tears came to her eyes. She refused to let them fall. She looked over at the girl. "What…what's your name?" she asked through the pain.

"Rio."

"Don't worry Rio. My daddy will save us."

Rio shot her a skeptical look. The hatch door began to open and Kiara shot her a pained smile. "See. Told you." She watched through the widening crack in the hatch as Vincent shot down the soldiers. He turned as the hatch fully opened and shot the two creatures as they ran out. Kiara and Rio ran out. Kiara wrapped her arms around Vincent and Rio ran to where her mother still lay in an alley.

"I told you to stay by my side." Vincent snapped at her sternly. "You disobeyed me." Kiara backed away a few steps, her head bowed, staring at the ground. "When I give you an order I expect you to follow it. Do you understand?" She nodded her head, not meeting his eyes.

"I'm sorry daddy." She was crying now. Vincent sighed and knelt in front of her, pulling her into his arms. "Never scare me like that again." He whispered as she clung to him. "I won't daddy." She promised.

Vincent held her at arms length and looked her over. He noticed the blood seeping through her shirt and frowned at the claw marks. "I don't have my restore materia with me." He stood. "Let's meet Reeve. The sooner we meet him the sooner we can get you fixed up." She nodded and grabbed his cloak once again.

"Help!" A child's distant cry was heard and Vincent took off, trying to keep his pace at a level that Kiara could follow.

They found the child, another young girl, surrounded by five of the creatures and soldiers. The girl was huddled in a corner as they advanced, holding her precious moogle doll in front of her face.

Vincent leveled Cerberus, taking aim and blowing a hole through one soldier's head. The others turned and he quickly dispatched them in the same manner.

Kiara looked up at him for permission and at his nod ran over to help the girl to her feet. "Are you ok?" the girl nodded as she stood. "You should be alright now." Vincent said and the child stuttered out a thank you. "Th-thank you sir."

Vincent turned to leave and Kiara joined him, waving to the girl.

They traveled through the city. Vincent tried to take the routes with the least amount of soldiers to lower the risk of Kiara getting hurt.

Kiara would shoot nervous glances at him from time to time but never said anything.

Finally, when Vincent had cleared out a small building and had stopped to rest, she asked, "Are you still mad at me?" In a soft voice.

Vincent looked down at his daughter as she shuffled her feet. "No. I was never actually mad at you. I was scared."

She looked up at him in confusion. "But you're never scared."

"I was tonight. I was scared I'd lose you." He placed a reassuring and comforting hand on her head. "That is why I snapped at you. It wasn't out of anger. It was from the fear I still held."

"I'm sorry daddy."

"I know you are. Come on now. Let's go meet Reeve." He opened a door leading to a courtyard and stuck his head out. He knew something was out there and he pulled his head back in, looking at his daughter.

"I want you to stay here." She nodded. "whatever you may see or hear you stay here. If they find you then you run like the gods themselves are after you. Do you understand?" She nodded worriedly and he pulled her into a hug before drawing Cerberus and walking out the door.

The minute he stepped out a large battle copter came into view and began firing missiles in his direction. She watched as he aimed Cerberus, now equipped with a long barrel, at the blades, shooting them. The side doors of the copter opened and soldiers jumped out, raining bullets down on him. Now he had to dodge missiles and bullets! He dispatched the soldiers but wasn't paying enough attention to the missiles coming his way. It impacted the ground near him and sent him flying. He hit the ground in a roll and jumped to his feet. He fired one last round at the copter and it flew wobbly away, it's engines smoking. He looked around then nodded for Kiara to join him.

"Come. The meeting place is just ahead." He lead her into another building and they went up a few flights of stairs. He lead her into a small room that looked like it was used for storage.

As they walked in a hole was smashed through the wall to the left of the doorway and a large, tall, bulking man with feral yellow eyes stepped through followed by a girl who looked to be no more then ten years old and had mako bright blue eyes. They both wore the same suits as the soldiers.

"The protomateria. Tell us where it is." The girl demanded in an emotionless, robot-like tone.

Vincent stared at them as he pushed Kiara into a corner behind some boxes and stepped in front of her. Soldiers ran in and he leveled Cerberus, shooting them down as they came through the hole in the wall.

When he had killed them all the large man grinned. "Challenge accepted." He said, taking a few steps forward.

The girl collapsed in a faint and the man looked back at her. He looked to the door as voices were heard getting closer then turned back to Vincent. "Luck is on your side." He turned and picked up the girl in one large hand. "I'm sorry." She whispered weakly. He turned back to Vincent. "I am Azul. We will meet again." His eyes locked onto Kiara and he smirked, causing her to move further behind Vincent to hide from his gaze. Then Azul turned and walked back through the hole and his pounding footsteps faded as Reeve and two of his soldiers ran in.

"What…what happened here?" Reeve asked as he looked around.

He ran to Vincent. "Vincent Valentine." He said in recognition. "Are you two alright?"

They nodded.

"Reeve. Nice to see you again." He eyed Reeve's blue outfit. "Not a very interesting outfit though."

Reeve laughed. "It took me a while to decide which outfit I would put on for today" his voice turned serious. "But enough of the small talk. Who were those soldiers that just left?"

Vincent shook his head. "I don't know. The large one called himself Azul."

Reeve gasped. "Azul the Cerulean? Of the Taviets? That could only mean…"

"Commissioner!" One of Reeve's soldiers called and Reeve whirled around.

"Deepground soldiers Sir!" the soldier told him, indicating down stairs.

Reeve nodded and turned back to Vincent. "We'll discuss this later. WRO troops have arrived and commenced rescue operations. We could use your help Vincent."

Reeve started to run off.

"Reeve!" Vincent called.

He stopped and turned back.

"I don't know what you're up to but I want absolutely no part of it." Vincent stated. His main concern right now was Kiara and nothing else.

"But… you fought alongside us three years ago! We need your help once mor-" He was cut off by a bullet to the back from a Deepground soldier. He fell forward and Vincent's eyes widened as he shot the soldier in the head.

"Reeve!" He ran over and knelt next to Reeve while Kiara stayed back, tears already forming.

Vincent turned Reeve over and gave a sound of surprise when his body fell apart and Cait Sith rolled out. The robotic cat jumped to it's feet. "That was a close one! Never was good at fighting. Luckily I came out wearing 'Reeve'."

Vincent stared at him.

"Hi Cait." Kiara greeted, her previous fear gone.

"Hello lass." The cat turned back to Vincent. "You're really not a bad bloke are you Vincent? You pretend not to care but you always come through in the end."

Vincent sighed. "Alright. What do you need me to do?"

Cait pumped his fist into the air. "Let's run those lads outta town! I'll leave the method up to you. When you've tidied things up, meet me in the square by the East church."

Vincent nodded. "Fine but I want you and the WRO to take Kiara somewhere safe. Can I count on you?"

The cat nodded. "Of course. We'll make sure the lass is kept safe and sound."

Vincent turned to Kiara. "Go with them and I'll come back as soon as I can ok?"

She nodded, giving him a hug before going to stand beside a female WRO soldier who placed a hand on her shoulder. "She'll be safe with us Mr. Valentine."

He gave one last affirmative nod before leaving the room.

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_After siege _

Reeve and a WRO soldier saluted each other before Reeve walked over to where Vincent was sitting on some crates. "Good work Vincent. The enemy is retreating. It seems they have finally begun their withdrawal from Kalm."

"Good."

"However we still require your assistance. Reports are Edge is under attack."

Vincent nodded before changing the subject. "Where's Kiara?"

"Don't worry she's safe. She's with a friend in fact. You'll see her soon I'm sure."

Vincent nodded once more before sinking into his own thoughts, going over what he knew about Deepground.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Once again I own nothing Final Fantasy. Though it would make a great Christmas present.

Warning: Dirge of Cerberus spoilers

Chapter 7

_A few days later._

_Nibelhiem. Shinra Manor._

"So you cannot control the beast without this." Rosso stated as she stood over Vincent's convulsing form, the ball of materia she had yanked from within his chest in her hand.

Yuffie watched from the shadows as Vincent gasped and Chaos took over, transforming his body before fading back into his subconscious again, his body going back back to normal. "I would so love to kill you slowly." Rosso said in a pleasure filled voice. Yuffie had, had enough and she threw Conformer as Rosso advanced towards Vincent's now unconscious form, dropping a smoke bomb at the same time.

She jumped and landed next to Vincent. She put his arm around her neck, hers wrapping around his waist, and lifted him up, dragging him out of the room. _Damn Vincent you're heavy._

"Wutai flea!" Rosso's enraged shout filled the mansion and Yuffie quickened her pace. She had him out the front doors of the mansion and up a tree when Rosso ran out in a rage.

The crimson woman clenched her fists. "I swear if you survive that wound you will not live through the next one." She threatened out loud before turning and running from the mansion.

Yuffie let out a breath before turning her concerned gaze to Vincent's limp form. "Vince." She ripped off a piece of cloth from the strange outfit she was wearing and placed it over the wound in his chest. It didn't do much to stop the bleeding.

"You'll be alright…right?" she asked him an edge of panic in her voice. "You've had worse wounds then this right?" More blood flowed as she tried in vain to stop it.

Then suddenly the hole healed itself and Vincent's breathing steadied. Yuffie sighed._ Oh Vincent I'm going to kill you for scaring me like that. _She thought as she supported him again, climbing down from the tree and dragging him towards the Shadowcat.

The transport's doors opened as they reached it and Kiara ran out, her childish face full of worry. "Daddy!" She grabbed his other arm and held it above her head in an attempt to relieve some of the weight from Yuffie. The ninja gave a small smile at the child's attempt and dragged Vincent inside, laying him on his back on one of the long seats.

Kiara sat on the floor next to him and watched over him with concern.

"Don't worry kiddo." She turned at the sound of Yuffie's voice. "He'll be fine. If I know him he'll be up and about within the next hour."

She gave Yuffie a small smile and a nod before turning back to Vincent.

Yuffie banged on the wall. "Take us outta here lieutenant."

"Yes ma'am." The Shadowcat rumbled to life and gave a small jerk as it started forward. Yuffie contacted Reeve to tell him the news then leaned back against the wall, keeping her eyes on Vincent.

He stayed motionless for half an hour then grunted as his eyes opened. Kiara was on her feet in an instant, wrapping her arms around him. "Are you ok daddy?"

He winced and nodded. "Yes."

Yuffie waved. "Morning." She chimed cheerily knowing he probably wouldn't recognize her in her outfit and hood.

Her theory was proved correct when he asked. "Where…who are you?"

"Well I'm glad you asked." She stood up on the seat. "I am the champion of the earth and sky!"

Vincent rolled his eyes and blocked out her voice after the first sentence. _Yuffie. I should have known. _He stared lazily at the ceiling as she went on, catching small bits such as 'the single white rose of Wutai.'

Finally she threw the costume off. "Yuffie Kisaragi! I'm the- whoa!" she spun her arms, trying to stay balanced as the Shadowcat hit a bump. She didn't succeed. She fell back, hitting her head with a thud against the wall. "Oh owww." She held the back of her head. "That hurt." She groaned.

"hm. So. Where are we?" Vincent asked as if nothing had happened.

"Oh c'mon. aren't you at least a little bit concerned?" she asked as she rubbed her head.

Vincent looked over at her. "Oh Yuffie. How's your head?" no sympathy was in his voice.

Yuffie glared at him. "You… could you at least pretend to be sympathetic?"

He grunted as he tried to sit up. Yuffie bolted next to him, grabbing his shoulders and pushing him back down. "Hey take it easy, that was a big hole you had in your chest."

"A hole… in my chest" he looked slightly confused for a moment.

She nodded. "Yep. I seriously thought you were a goner but then the wound healed itself right up. You were always 'different' but I guess that's why you're still breathing." She smiled.

"Yuffie what are you doing here?"

"Me? I'm just helping out Reeve and his gang. He brought Kiara to me a few days ago, after the Kalm siege. We were poking around Nibelhiem when I found you looking all corpse-like in Shinra Manor, so I saved you." She twirled around, the ends of her headband dancing behind her. "Imagine that. Me saving the 'Great Vincent Valentine'! well? Do I get any thanks?" She gave a small laugh as she stood in front of him, hands on her hips.

Vincent nodded. "Thanks Yuffie." He said seriously.

Yuffie's eyes widened and she waved her hands in front of her face. "Geez Vince I didn't mean for you to take me so seriously." She scratched the back of her head in what appeared to be embarrassment. "Anyway Reeve said to contact him as soon as you woke up."

She sat in front of a console and hit a few keys then spoke. "Hey Reeve you there? Come in Reeve."

"Reeve here." A voice faded by static answered.

"He's up."

"Vincent's come to? Excellent." A wavering picture of Reeve appeared on the screen." "I have some good news. Using you-know-who I was able to infiltrate Midgar. However." He paused for a moment before continuing. "What I saw wasn't the prettiest of pictures. Omega. I should have known. We cannot allow them to sacrifice the lives of anymore people. Once we've gathered our forces we'll launch a full offensive. Of course we'll require the help of you two as well. Please hurry back to headquarters. Oh I'm analyzing the data files you sent earlier. I should have results soon. Tuesti out." The screen went blank.

Yuffie hit a couple more keys, turning the communicator off. "There you have it. I don't know what's going down but it sounds big." She turned around to face them. "I've been waiting a long time to get my hands on those Deepground punks." She threw a couple punches. "They've had their way long enough. Now it's time to give them a taste of pain a la Yuffie. Just give me three minutes with those guys, no make it two. Maybe three, well it really depends on how many there are but I think if there was five I could take them in two…"

Kiara giggled and Yuffie stopped, smiling sheepishly.

They sat in silence for a while. Yuffie pulled her legs up and sat cross legged, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. Kiara cocked her head to one side, looking at the ninja curiously. "Whatcha doing?"

Yuffie opened her eyes again. "It called meditation. It's something we do in my country. It's supposed to help you relax."

Kiara sat next to her and crossed her legs. "Can I try?"

"You'll be bored within the first two minutes."

"No I won't. I promise."

Yuffie shook her head, a small smile on her face. "Alright. Just close your eyes and clear your mind, try and relax."

Kiara did as she was told and there was silence. Two minutes later she started fidgeting and Vincent held back a smile. A minute later the little girl sighed and got up, going over to sit next to Vincent.

Yuffie cracked open an eye and smiled. "I'm impressed. You made it t three minutes. That's longer than I did on my first try." She closed her eyes again.

The intercom crackled. "We'll be arriving shortly." The lieutenant driver said then shouted, "What the hell!"

Yuffie opened her eyes as explosions sounded outside. Suddenly something slammed into the Shadowcat. Vincent held Kiara close and Yuffie flew forward, rolling and slamming her head hard against the far wall.

They felt the Shadowcat crash then the engines died. Yuffie gave a small groan but remained still, eyes closed and body limp.

"Yuffie!" Kiara ran to her side followed by Vincent.

"She'll be alright." Vincent assured her. "She's just knocked out." Something slammed into the vehicle again and he frowned, standing up. "Stay here." He commanded then opened the vehicle's doors and walked out.

The Shadowcat was surrounded by Deepground robotic missile launchers.

_Deepground. _He shot two and dodged as the other two fired missiles before shooting them as well. _They had better have something more challenging then this if they want to destroy us. _He thought as he walked back into the Shadowcat.

"Kiara." She looked up from her place at Yuffie's side. "I want you to stay here and look after Yuffie. I believe Deepground is attacking headquarters and I don't want you anywhere near. I'll come for you when it's over."

She nodded. "Be careful daddy."

He drew Cerberus before walking out once more.

A/N: And there you are the seventh chapter. I toyed with the idea of making you all wait till Christmas but decided to post it tonight. I already have the next chapter written so I'll have that up in a few days, maybe Christmas if I get enough reviews. It will be when they first get on the Shera. Hope you liked. Merry Christmas (Not Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas) especially to all my reviewers who liked this story enough to stick with it. Thanks a lot guys.

MakoStorm


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I've said it already no need to say it again.

Warning: Major Dirge of Cerberus spoilers

Chapter 8

The doors slid open and Vincent walked inside the machine filled room. He looked sadly over at Shalua who was lying in a med pod.

Yuffie was sitting up on a desk, legs over the edge and head bowed in grief and sadness. She had an arm around Kiara who was sitting beside her crying.

The minute he walked in Kiara jumped down and ran to him. He knelt down and opened his arms for her to run into. He enveloped them around her and stood, holding her as she cried in his shoulder. "Shhh. It's alright Kiara. I'm here."

"They say she won't wake up." Yuffie said from her position, looking at the pair with grief filled eyes. "She suffered to much trauma to her head. Unless there's some kind of miracle she's not…" she trailed off and stared at the ground.

Suddenly she slammed her hand down on the desk and glared up at him. "Vincent! You were there! Why couldn't you save her!?" She demanded angrily.

Vincent sighed and cast his eyes down. "I'm…I'm sorry."

Yuffie gasped then shook her head, feeling ashamed. "No. I didn't mean…" All anger was gone from her voice.

The door opened and Shelke walked inside, looking at her sister's pod emotionlessly. "She was a fool."

Yuffie jumped up and ran at Shelke, slapping her. "You have no right to call her that!" she shouted at the girl angrily. "You don't know- you don't know what…!" Vincent placed his free hand on her shoulder comfortingly, pulling her back a bit in case she attacked Shelke again. She turned and her gaze locked with his before she looked away.

"Why?" Shelke questioned emotionlessly. "Why would she do something so…?"

Yuffie looked up at her before holding back a small sob and marching past her, out the door.

Vincent watched her as she left then as the door slid shut he looked at Shelke. "Before, when I asked Shalua what she was searching for, she answered 'her reason to live'" his gaze traveled to Shalua then back to Shelke. "It was you Shelke. You were her reason to live."

Shelke turned aside, not looking at him. "So?" Vincent shot her a look of surprise. "I don't understand how someone could give her own life for that of another."

She looked up at him. "Do you understand, Vincent Valentine?"

"Hm." He turned away and looked at Shalua once more. "I can't answer for your sister but…"

"But?" Shelke questioned, her voice sounding as if she was desperate to know his answer.

He glanced at her before looking at the med pod again. "When a person has someone they care about that much," He looked lovingly at Kiara who's crying had slowed. "giving their life is sometimes the least they can do. And maybe that's what makes us human."

Shelke walked forward. "Someone they care about…" She trailed off.

"Although," Vincent continued, looking at her. "it seems there are a lot of people around me who don't need a reason to risk their lives for that of another."

Shelke stepped towards him. "And are you…" She stumbled and Vincent reached his arm out to steady her. Their eyes locked and both pairs went distant, as if remembering a long lost memory.

Kiara lifted her head from Vincent's shoulder and looked from one to the other. "Daddy?" she shook him a bit but got no reaction. A minute later they both came to their senses. Shelke backed away. "I'm sorry." She said.

She turned away from them and walked away a few steps, looking at the ground. "Why are her data fragments responding?" she asked no one in particular.

The doors slid open once more and Reeve walked inside. "Vincent. I agree with you. This is not the time for us to give up. But I need to know something. Those data files you recovered from Shinra Manor…are you sure there weren't anymore?"

Vincent nodded. "I'm sure."

Reeve sighed. "I see."

"What's wrong?"

Reeve looked up. "Well, the Omega Reports… the file was incomplete. To make any sense of it we're going to require the other half. If possible I wanted to know a little more about our foe before we launched the attack on Midgar."

Shelke turned to look at them. "Are you speaking of Dr. Lucrecia Cresent's findings?"

Reeve made a noise in surprise. "Yes, but how did you…?"

"A large quantity of her mnemonic data fragments have been uploaded into my neural network. It was my directive to use this data to locate and retrieve the Protomateria."

The two men looked at each other before looking back at Shelke, Kiara looked confused.

"However," Shelke continued. "not only was the data incomplete, but part of her consciousness began interfering with my own thought processes. It was believed that the missing fragments may have been the reason for this. I can attempt to upload the WRO's files on the Omega Reports. By combining it with the data I possess, you may obtain a clearer picture of what you'll be up against. And perhaps I can regain control of my mind."

The men exchanged glances as she finished then Yuffie's voice came over the intercom. "Vincent! Reeve! You better get out here!" she sounded excited.

Vincent placed Kiara on her feet and the two walked out the door with Reeve.

As they walked outside the sound of airships hit their ears and they saw Yuffie jumping up and down, waving like crazy. "Cid!!!" Kiara joined her as the _Shera _came into view. "Hey!!! Over here!!!"

The _Shera _was followed by an entire fleet. "Wow!" Yuffie and Kiara exclaimed together as the _Shera _came in for a landing.

The ship's ramp lowered and Kiara and Yuffie ran on board while Vincent and Reeve followed at a slower pace. Vincent looked back and watched as a few WRO soldiers took Shalua on board and noticed Shelke was staying close to her sister, eyes on her at all times. _Deepground was not able to erase all emotion from her. _He thought before turning and walking inside the ship.

They arrived on the bridge as the ship took off again. "Hey old man." Yuffie greeted the pilot. "I don't believe it. Your not smoking for once. Why is that?"

Cid glared at her. "Shut up brat I'm not that old and I'll tell you later."

Kiara ran up the steps to the captain's platform and wrapped her arms around Cid's waist. "Hi Uncle Cid." Cid wrapped her in a one armed hug, the other on the wheel. "Hey pipsqueak. How ya bin?"

"Good." She answered.

The pilot spotted Vincent and waved. "Hey! Vincent! Long time!" He took a step away from the wheel.

"Captain!" A soldier cried as the ship moved a little off course.

Cid grabbed the wheel again. "Whoa. Sorry about that." He directed his gaze back to Vincent. "Much as I'd like to sit down and reminisce 'bout old times you'll have to take rain check. Why don't you have a look around my bird until the meeting?"

Vincent nodded and Kiara joined him as he walked off the bridge.

They found Yuffie keeled over and looking pale. "You ok Yuffie?" Kiara asked. Yuffie groaned. "Man, I hate airships." She shook her head as if trying to clear it. "I knew I shouldn't have had eggs for breakfast. Sorry guys I don't feel liker talking much." She placed a hand to her mouth and clutched her stomach. The two nodded and left the ninja alone.

They walked down the hall and found Shelke in the computer room.

Shalua's pod was in there as well. Vincent and Kiara stared at it sadly before Vincent turned his gaze to the younger sister.

"After the assault begins, the headquarters' facilities will no longer be available." Shelke said, typing and looking at the computer screen. She turned her head and eyed the med pod. "And to think, just a few days ago, I was the one in there." Her voice held a little emotion. She turned back to the screen and continued typing. "No. forget I said anything." Her emotionless voice was back.

"What are you doing?" Kiara asked.

Shelke stopped typing and looked over at her. "I'm in the process of modifying this equipment so I can perform an SND- a synaptic net dive." She continued typing again. Kiara stared at her then looked to Vincent in confusion.

"Synaptic net dive?" He questioned.

A piece of equipment hanging from the ceiling moved over to a corner over a chair.

"My specialty within the Tsviets. While retaining consciousness, I project an image of myself into a virtual reality called a network. I can also use this ability to negotiate with data on the subconscious planes of sentient life forms. However, this often involves a great risk to my own sanity. For Shinra, the success of the SND project was crucial for their next step in…" she stopped. "I'm sorry. I seem to have gotten off track. Simply put, I'm creating a personal network terminal within the airship's main control console."

Vincent chuckled.

"What?" Shelke questioned.

He shook his head. "Nothing." He looked at Shalua. "You just remind me of your sister." Shelke stared at him for a moment then went back to the screen.

The two left Shelke to her task and walked back out into the hall.

Vincent noticed Kiara was unusually quiet and her eyes held sadness in them as she stared at the ground while they walked.

"Kiara?" She looked up at him. "What is bothering you?"

She shook her head. "Nothing."

He placed a hand on her shoulder and led her down another hall. "Come with me. I want to show you something." She looked at him questioningly but followed as he opened a door. Wind hit them and Kiara gasped in awe as they walked out onto the deck. "Wow!"

Vincent sat down and Kiara sat next to him, the sadness once again showing on her face as they watched the setting sun.

"So are you going to tell me or not?" He asked her, not looking away from the sun.

There was silence then, "Do…do you know what day it is?" She asked quietly.

He thought for a moment then his eyes widened. "Your birthday!" He looked at her and she nodded.

Guilt tore at Vincent for forgetting. A year ago today he had found her. It had been decided that since she couldn't remember when her real birthday was, the day he found her would be her special day.

"I'm so sorry Kiara." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her to him.

"It's alright. I don't blame you." He saw a tear roll down her cheek.

"If that's not what's bothering you then what is?

"We're supposed to be together on my birthday." She said quietly. "Instead you're going to fight and so is Yuffie." She sniffled then broke into sobs. "I don't want you to go daddy! What if you don't come back!? What if Yuffie doesn't come back!? I don't want you to die like mama! I don't want you to leave me and not come back!" She clutched his cloak in her hands, holding onto him as if her life depended on it.

Vincent pulled her into his lap, hugging her close and rocking back and forth, trying to calm her.

"I won't die." He assured her. "And Yuffie is to stubborn to go down easily. I refuse to join the planet and leave you here alone." He rubbed her back soothingly as she hid her face in his chest. "I'll come back. I promise." Her sobbing slowed and he placed a hand under her chin, lifting her head to face him. "We'll celebrate when I get back, alright?" She nodded and rested her head against him again.

After a few minutes of silence she looked up at him. "Daddy?"

"Hm?"

"Is Miss. Shalua really never gonna wake up?"

He looked down at her sad eyes. "There is always hope little one."

"That girl says it's foolish to hope."

Vincent snorted. "Don't listen to Shelke, listen to me. There is always hope."

She smiled and nodded.

They stood. "Come on." Vincent said. "It's almost time for the meeting."

Kiara nodded and they walked inside, heading towards the bridge.

A/N: So what did ya think? Review and let me know. I only got two reviews for my last chapter, come on guys I need reviews to keep motivated or I lose interest and I don't want to lose interest. Also I've had people ask me if Kiara knows Vincent has chaos in him. The answer is no she doesn't and you'll find out the consequences for that in the next chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Said it once already.

Warning: Major Dirge of Cerberus warnings.

Chapter 9

"Kiara. You go ahead to the bridge. I must check something first then I'll meet you." Vincent said. Kiara nodded and he walked through another door.

As the door slid closed it dawned on Kiara that she didn't remember the way to the bridge. _I could just wait for daddy to come back. _She thought. _Or I can go after him. _She decided to do that and ran through the door he had gone through.

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As Vincent walked down the silent hallway pain shot through him. He gasped, placing a hand to his chest and hunching over.

His heart pounded against his chest and he grunted in pain, closing his eyes. He opened them and his vision was red, his body shaking violently. The red faded and when he looked at his hand he saw burning red light radiating from him. Hatred, rage and anger flared inside him as his control slipped a bit and he slashed at the wall with his claw. Slash marks were gorged into the wall as he fought off Chaos. _I can't lose control._

The door slid open and a small figure stood there with wide emerald eyes.

"Daddy?" Fear edged her voice as she stepped towards him.

"Ki…Kiara…" he grunted out as he fought to control the beast. "Get…get away."

She gasped as wings sprouted from his back. She trembled as she backed up into the corner by the doorway, her eyes filled with fear.

Vincent's heart clenched. That look hurt him more than Chaos ever could.

_She's scared of me. _He fought harder against the demon. _I can't lose control now. I can't let it hurt her. _But Chaos was getting harder to control by the second.

Suddenly Kiara ran from her corner and crashed into him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Daddy you've gotta stop!"

At her contact Chaos seemed to weaken and Vincent took advantage of that weakness and mentally rammed it back into his subconscious. The wings disappeared and he started to breathe easier. He wrapped his arms around Kiara tightly and she looked up at him with tears running down her cheeks. "It's alright now Kiara. It's alright." The fear left her eyes. "I have just one question for you." She stared at him questioningly. "Why do you always have to disobey me at the worst times?"

She gave him a soggy smile and buried her face against him again.

"Come on. We should get to the bridge."

She nodded and they walked out the door. She clutched his human hand and he looked at her. "I don't want to get lost." He gave a small smile and closed his fingers around her hand.

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When they arrived on the bridge everyone was already there. The two went and stood in the middle of the room next to Yuffie.

"Alright, our buddies and the remaining WRO squads will lead the ground assault." Cid announced to them all and Yuffie finished for him. "While we lead our attack from the air." She pointed up as she placed an ice pack to her head.

Suddenly the lights went off and Kiara gave a small cry in surprise, stumbling back into Yuffie. "Careful kiddo." Stars shot from the sphere in the middle of the room and they both gasped in wonder.

"What the…are we in…" Cid exclaimed as he looked around. Vincent calmly looked around as the ship seemed to disappear and they were standing in the middle of space. "What!" Yuffie exclaimed as she glanced about. Kiara gave a small laugh as she tried to grab one of the stars. She cupped her hands around one and looked inside only to see the projected star pass through her hand. Vincent smiled at her antics.

His smile faded when an all too familiar voice sounded around them.

"Just as we return to the planet, when our life light has faded, the planet returns to the cosmos when her time has come." Lucrecia's voice floated around them as Yuffie and Kiara looked around in awe. Stars twinkled brightly as planets came into view.

"Wow!" Yuffie whispered.

"Anything that has definite fate will one day cease to exist." Lucrecia continued as Vincent felt his heart pang at hearing her voice again. "The same is true for this world. Before she takes her final breath," Their planet was struck by meteors and it burned to a crisp. "The pure lifestreams that flow freely beneath her crust will be brought together into one…by Omega, the ultimate life form." Many strands of aqua left the planet and came together. "His purpose…to gather all life and lead it into the sea of stars where it will embark on a fabulous journey along a road untraveled."

The life shot from the planet and flew past them through the cosmos. Kiara chased it a few feet then stopped to see where it would go. "However, when Omega has left with the life from the planet…" Lucrecia went on. "Whoa!" they all looked down at the small projection of their dead planet. "all that will remain will be an empty shell destined to die silently in the limitless void of space."

The projection faded and daylight and the ship slowly began to appear again.

"Omega is-." Lucrecia's voice was cut off abruptly by Shelke who continued the sentence. "-the same type of life form as the weapons we encountered three years ago. The planet gave birth to these creatures to protect itself. Vest is the planet will ultimately give birth to the final weapon, Omega, when the end of the world is imminent. In essence, Omega is an elaborate safety mechanism designed solely to maintain the flow of life. Normally Omega poses no threat to us, it only manifests when the planet detects something that may cause her immediate danger." Shelke finished off through the intercom.

Reeve placed his hands behind his back and stepped forward. "However, Deepground is attempting to awaken the beast early, thus the kidnappings." He stared at them all thoughtfully. "By slaughtering thousands of innocent souls, they are creating a pure lifestream in order to trick the planet into thinking the planet is near it's end."

Cid growled. "Why those conniving- I don't know who this Weiss character is but he's crazy if he thinks we're gonna let him get away with it!"

"Right." Reeve nodded. "Omega is being revived deep beneath Midgar in mako reactor zero. To increase the output of reactor zero all the other reactors have been tied to it's mainframe. Our objective is to destroy one through eight and slow down the reanimation process. Mission details for each squad will be relayed separately." Reeve informed.

Cid nodded. "Alright, we still have some time before the big show. If you have things need doing, do it." He said then went back to the wheel.

As the group dispersed Vincent knelt in front of Kiara. "I want you to stay here. I have to get ready." She nodded and he kissed her forehead before standing and walking from the room.

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Vincent leaned against the wall of hanger bay nine and watched as the WRO got ready, checking their weapons and stretching their muscles. His thoughts strayed back to the incident earlier and he sighed, leaning his head back against the wall. _I should never have adopted her. I shouldn't have gotten attached. I knew something like this would happen but I allowed her to stay with me anyway. _The image of her fearful face popped into his head. _I never want to see her look at me like that again._

"Hey." A hand on his shoulder made him jump. "You ok?" Yuffie asked concerned. "You spaced out. Bet you didn't even here what Cid said over the intercom just now did you?"

He shook his head.

"what is it that's got you so distracted?" Vincent sighed before explaining what had occurred less than an hour ago.

Yuffie stared at him intently as he finished. "You lost control of it?"

"Yes." He cast his eyes down as if ashamed. "Yuffie." He said quietly. "I want you to take Kiara."

Her eyes widened. "Wh-what!? Why!?"

"You know why."

"It was one time Vince!"

"Once is all it takes!" he snapped. "I could have killed her right there! I refuse to let her stay with me if I endanger her life! I love her too much to risk her life like that!"

She shook her head. "Vincent. It'll break her heart. You might as well be abandoning her in her eyes."

"I will still visit her."

"It doesn't matter! You're her father Vincent!"

"No I'm not! I adopted her, yes but… I'm more of a danger to her than anything." His voice softened as he tried desperately to make her understand. "Yuffie. You love her just as much as I do. Please. For her wellbeing and protection, take her." His eyes were pleading.

Yuffie stared up at him for a moment before turning her head away, knowing nothing was gonna change his mind. If she didn't take Kiara he'd find someone who would. She sighed in defeat. "Fine." She glared up at him. "But _you _will tell her. _You _will explain to her why." He nodded. "Fair enough."

Cid's voice crackled over the intercom. "Alright! Ya'll have five minutes!"

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"Ya'll have five minutes!" When Cid said those words Kiara made up her mind and took off running.

She remembered where the docking bay was, not far from the bridge, and headed in that direction. A soldier stood in front of the bay door and held up a hand as she got closer. "I'm sorry miss Kiara but the squads are getting ready and no one is allowed admittance."

Kiara pouted then smirked before dropping to the floor and sliding between his legs. Yuffie had taught her that. She ran through the door as the soldier shouted after her. A few people looked up as she ran in, along with Yuffie and Vincent.

"Kiara." She ran into Vincent's arms and he picked her up. "I told you to stay on the bridge." He scolded.

"I know daddy. I'm sorry. I just wanted to see you one more time is all." She looked at Yuffie. "And Yuffie too."

Yuffie smiled at her then frowned, looking at Vincent expectantly. He ignored her and said. "I promised I'd come back didn't I?" She nodded and he put her back on her feet. Kiara wrapped her arms around Yuffie next. "Bye Yuffie." Yuffie hugged her. "see ya kiddo. And don't worry. I'll come back too. If I'm not here who's gonna help you pull pranks on Cid and Barrett?"

Kiara smiled. "Daddy said you're too stubborn to go down easily."

Yuffie nodded. "And he's absolutely right."

"Kiara. Go back to the bridge with Cid, stay close to him. Yuffie and I are about to leave." Vincent commanded.

Kiara nodded and gave him one last hug before leaving the hanger.

Vincent watched her go. "You're going to wait till the very last second to tell her aren't you?" Yuffie asked. Not looking at him as she secured her jetboard to her feet.

Vincent didn't answer.

The bay doors opened and wind whipped their clothes around them. "See ya around Vince." Yuffie said before kicking her kicking her board in gear and leading the rest of her team out the doors.

Vincent took her place and secured his jetboard. "Give 'em hell Vincent!" Cid's voice shouted over the speakers and he took off. A missile hit the docking bay just as he and more soldiers of the WRO took off.

_Kiara! _He twirled his board around and looked back at the _Shera._ He sighed with relief when he saw the damage was minimal. He spotted Kiara watching him from the bridge window and nodded to her before turning his board back around and heading into battle.

A/N: I finally got Dirge of Cerberus! I'm so happy! (jumps around like a lunatic.) (stops) ok I'm done. Also this story has gotten over a thousand hits! I know that isn't a lot to some authors out there but it means so much to me, thanks guys! Anyway, how did ya'll like the chapter? Got the next one well on the way so it should be up real soon. Now since school starts next week on Wednesday I won't be able to write as much and update as much as I do now so enjoy it while it lasts. Well read and review and I hope ya'll had a very Merry Christmas! I KNOW I DID!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: DoC spoilers.

Warning: If you are Vincent/Yuffie haters then you will not like certain things at the ending of this chapter. But please keep reading though, it makes me happy. D

Chapter 10

Vincent flew up high into the sky and flared his demonic wings, hovering. From this height he could see everyone as they fought. His phone rang and he flipped it open. "Sorry we're late." Cloud's voice sounded on the phone and Vincent watched as he sliced through a Deepground soldier.

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"All clear over hear." Tifa said as she beat the ever living crap outta another Deepground member.

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Cid lit a cigarette and took a drag from it. _Shera will have my ass if she finds out. _He thought as he blew out the smoke. "All in a day's work."

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Kiara stood next to Yuffie as they aimed the cannon.

"Fire!" Reeve shouted. The shot hit it's mark and everyone cheered. Yuffie and Kiara jumped up and down.

"When did I start caring so much about what happens?" Shelke asked herself as she looked up at Vincent. "It's all up to you now."

Barrett's voice came over the radio along with gunshots. "Give 'em hell Vincent!"

Kiara jumped up in the air, pumping her fist. "Go get 'em daddy!"

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"VINCENT!" They all shouted, drowning out Kiara's small "Daddy!"

"Hm. I guess I have no choice." Vincent said as he turned to face Omega. "It's time to save the world."

He took off fly at top speed and everyone cheered "Yeah!" as he hit the barrier surrounding Omega. The beast inside him caused him to roar as more chaotic power surged forth, giving him the strength to break through the barrier. Once through he surged forth, ready to face the final fight to save the planet.

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Everyone stared open mouthed as great wings sprouted from Omega and it took flight.

"Omega's ascending!" Reeve exclaimed as he watched the mighty beast ascend towards the heavens. "But that could only mean…"

Vincent shot from the beast and flew up in front of it. Power engulfed him as he dove to ram Omega head on. He roared as he connected with the Omega. There was a blinding flash of light and the rest of AVALANCHE covered their eyes as the ground rumbled. A shockwave hit them and Kiara clasped her arms around Yuffie's waist to keep from being blown back.

The light vanished and the sky cleared, showing the stars once more. Everyone opened their eyes as a green glow appeared and the life stream slowly began to drift back down to the planet. Many of the AVALANCHE members made sounds of awe while Yuffie and Kiara searched the sky. "Vincent…" Yuffie said in worry.

"Yuffie!" Kiara pointed to a chain hanging from and twisted, melted beam. Yuffie took a running leap and jumped from beam to beam until she reached it. She knelt down and plucked it from the twisted, still burning metal. It was Vincent's Cerberus chain. She clutched it to her chest as she searched to sky frantically. _Vincent. Where are you?_

She looked down at Kiara who was watching her anxiously. She jumped down and handed the chain to the little girl. Kiara stared at it then held it to her chest, a few tears escaping. Yuffie knelt and wrapped her arms around her, a tear of her own escaping. _Look at me. I never cry and here I am crying over Vincent when he'll probably fly right up any minute._

"He'll come back." Kiara said softly. "He said that he would. He promised."

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_One week later_

Yuffie ran into the bar as Tifa was wiping the counter down. Shelke was sitting in a booth not to far away typing on her phone.

"Hey! Have you heard from Cloud?" Tifa turned and shushed her, flicking her eyes over to where Kiara was sitting at the counter. On hearing Yuffie's question she jumped down and ran out the door. Yuffie saw the Cerberus chain still clutched in her hand.

"she hasn't put it down. Not once. She even sleeps with it." Tifa said as Shelke also stood, going upstairs.

Yuffie sighed. "I'm worried about her. I'm worried about Vince too. So have you heard from Cloud?"

Tifa nodded. "Yeah. He hasn't found anything."

The ninja growled in frustration. "Ain't gonna make this easy for us is he?"

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Kiara sat down on the porch next to the dozing Nanaki. She sighed and ran her fingers over the chain. Nanaki opened one eye and moved his head over, laying it in her lap. "Do not worry young Kiara. I am sure Vincent will return safe and sound."

She shot him a grateful look and scratched his ears as he began to doze off again.

The door was still open a crack from when she had run out and the ending of Tifa and Yuffie's conversation drifted to her ears.

"Vince wants me to take Kiara." Yuffie said and Kiara's eyes widened as she scooted closer to the door to hear more. The movement alerted Nanaki and he lifted his head, listening also.

"Why?"

" 'Cause of what happened. He doesn't want to risk it. She'll be staying with me from now on. She won't be with Vincent anymore." Sadness laced her voice.

Tears came to Kiara's eyes as she backed away from the door, nearly tripping over Nanaki. She turned and ran, throwing the chain to the ground. "Kiara!" She ignored Nanaki's shout.

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Yuffie and Tifa ran out at Nanaki's cry, just in time to see Kiara disappear around a corner. Yuffie knelt and picked the chain from the ground, cursing, guessing what had happened. "Damn it. I have to find her." She took off after Kiara, having an idea of where she was headed.

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Kiara sobbed as she used the spare key to unlock her house and run inside. _This is my home. Mine and daddy's. He can't send me away. He can't._ She opened the door to her room and ran inside, collapsing on the bed and clutching her stuffed Chocobo to her as she cried into it.

Ash jumped up onto the bed and rubbed against her, purring. When he got no response he climbed up onto her back and curled up by her head, purring even louder. Kiara finally reached up and scratched his ears.

Her door opened and she turned her head away as Yuffie walked in. burying it in her pillow.

The ninja sat next to her and reached a hand out to touch her arm. Kiara jerked angrily away from her touch.

Yuffie sighed and sat there for a few moments, trying to come up with the words to explain as she swung her legs. "I didn't want you to find out that way." She said finally. "Vincent was going to tell you when this was all over." She looked over to Kiara. "You have to understand. That thing you saw on the Shera, if Vincent had lost total control of it you probably wouldn't be here. He's trying to protect you. He loves you very much Kiara."

"If he loved me he wouldn't send me away." Kiara's muffled voice said from the pillow.

"He's not sending you away. You'll still see him. You just won't live here."

"But I want to live here! I want to live with daddy!"

"I know sweety." Yuffie soothed. "But Vincent's convinced something will happen if you stay with him. Besides, is staying with me really that horrible?"

Kiara looked up at her before throwing herself into the ninja's arms, making Ash get off in the process. Yuffie held her close, stroking her hair. "Do I have to leave Yuffie?"

"Vince wants you too. To protect you."

"And you promise I'll be able to see him?" Yuffie nodded, "Yes." Kiara nodded and sniffled.

Yuffie's phone rang and she answered. "Hey Spike."

"Hey Yufs." Cloud greeted. "I may know where Vincent is. You and Shelke head up to the falls and see if he's there. The Shera's being repaired right now so you'll have to use Chocobos."

"Fine but why does Shelke have to come?" Yuffie whined. Cloud sighed. "Yuffie just take her." There was a click as he hung up. Yuffie sighed then smiled down at Kiara. "We may know where Vince is."

Kiara's eyes widened. "Really?" She asked hopefully.

"Yep. Wanna come?"

"Yeah!"

"Are you still made at me or Vince?"

She thought about it before shaking her head. "Just sad." She said wuietly before perking up and saying loudly. "Come on! Lt's go!"

Yuffie grinned and they stood and rushed out the door.

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Vincent stood before the small pool and Lucrecia's crystal. "I'd be lying if I said you were the only reason I survived." He said as Kiara's laugh and Yuffie's grin floated in his head. "But… you are part of the reason." He gazed up into her seemingly sleeping face. "Thank you Lucrecia. Everything's alright now."

He turned his back to her and headed out of the cave, not noticing the single tear rolling down her cheek.

He stepped into the sunlight and was instantly greeted by a small, raven haired figure crashing into him and knocking him over.

"What took you so long daddy?" Kiara stared down at him from her position on his stomach.

He placed a hand on her head. "I'm sorry Kiara. I had something to do before I came back home."

She frowned at the word 'home' and slid off him.

He looked at her questioningly. "What is it Kiara?" He sat up.

"I heard Yuffie tell Tifa that I wouldn't be living with you anymore. She says you think it's to dangerous." She looked down at the grass she was sitting on. "She says you aren't sending me away. I just won't be living with you anymore and that you'll visit me."

"Well we'll just have to tell Yuffie she's wrong won't we?" her head shot up at his words. "The threat has passed. You won't be going anywhere."

She smiled so brightly he was surprised he didn't have to cover his eyes. She threw her arms around him tightly and he smiled.

"Come on! Yuffie's just down the hill with Shelke!" Kiara said excitedly, taking his hand as he stood up and leading him down the hill.

"You left them alone together!?" He asked incredulously. "Hope Shelke is still alive."

As they reached the bottom of the hill Yuffie jumped off her Chocobo, Tiko, and ran to them. She surprised him by throwing her arms around him in a fierce hug. He stood stunned for a minute before returning the embrace. She backed away, blushing profusely.

She recovered quickly however and placed her hands on her hips. "Don't you dare make me worry like that again Vincent Valentine!" she practically shouted.

He smirked and looked to Shelke. "I don't know why they made me come and get you." She stated, her voice, surprisingly, not as emotionless as usual. She gave a small laugh. "Not that I mind though." She looked to the sky and the others followed her gaze to rest on the remnants of Omega that floated high in the sky.

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The ride back to town wasn't quiet. Yuffie spent most of the ride lecturing Vincent which, Vincent noticed, was more something Tifa would do.

Shelke stayed silent as usual and Kiara played with the feathers of Kuro, hers and Vincent's black Chocobo. The little girl dozed off a little while later, laying back against Vincent's chest as he steered the Chocobo.

He smiled down at her sleeping face, keeping one arm around her in case she moved in her sleep and fell sideways. He yawned and tried to ignore his own exhaustion. He'd hardly slept in the past week. He had made the journey to the falls on foot and was in a hurry so he hardly stopped to rest. He may be strong but even he needed sleep sooner or later.

Yuffie noticed his exhaustion and steered Tiko to walk next to Kuro. She took the reins from Vincent's hand and walked forward, leading the bird along. She looked back at him. "I'll wake you when we get there." He nodded gratefully before resting his head on top of Kiara's and letting sleep take him.

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She woke them about two hours later as they were reaching the outskirts of the city. They checked their Chocobos into the stable then walked to Seventh Heaven. Vincent carried Kiara as she hadn't fully woken yet.

When they entered the bar they were met by the gazes of the rest of AVALANCHE.

"Hey guys!" Yuffie chirped.

"Hello." Vincent nodded his head in greeting.

"Hello? Hello?! We've been looking for your damn ass all week and the only damn thing you have to say is Hello!?" Cid shouted angrily.

"I had some things to do before returning."

Yuffie stared at Cid. "Cid? Why aren't you smoking?" She crossed her arms. "As a matter of fact I haven't seen you with a cigarette all week. What gives? You normally smoke a pack a day. Come on, spill it."

"Guess I never told ya." He scratched his head. "Shera's pregnant and I can't really be much of a father if I'm dead and up there." He pointed upwards.

Everyone stared at him in shock.

"What!" He shouted. "Shit is it so damn hard to believe."

Tifa shook herself. "That's wonderful Cid!" She said happily.

"Yeah! Now I'll have someone else to play with!" Kiara cried.

Tifa laughed. "It'll be a few years before the baby can play Kiara."

"Yeah, looks like you're stuck with Denzel and Marlene." Cloud said, giving her a look of mock sympathy. "I feel sorry for you."

He was instantly tackled off his sea by Denzel and the two had a little tussle on the floor.

"All right you two." Tifa smiled. "Take it outside." The two 'fighters' looked up. Cloud had Denzel in a light headlock and was ruffling his hair while the boy protested loudly. Denzel pulled and Cloud released him, causing him to tumble back.

Kiara and Marlene laughed as their friend fell and landed on his rump; hard.

"Oh yeah!" Marlene smiled at Kiara before dashing upstairs. She returned a few minutes later with a small, square, wrapped box. She handed it to Kiara. "Happy late birthday. I didn't think you'd want to celebrate till your daddy came home so I never gave it to you?"

Kiara tore off the paper and opened the box, pulling out the handmade bracelet. It was made of braided twine and had beads and Chocobo feathers expertly woven in.

"I made it myself, well Tifa helped."

"Thanks Marlene!" Kiara said before turning and holding the bracelet up to show Vincent.. he smiled and took it from her hand, clasping it around her wrist. It fit perfectly and still had some room for her to grow into it.

"Daddy. You said we could celebrate when you got back."

"I did didn't I? Alright how about we go out to dinner to night?"

"Yeah!" She cried. "Can I chose where please?"

"Well it's for your birthday isn't it?"

She smiled. "Can Marlene and Denzel come?"

"Everyone can come if they wish."

"Yay!"

Tifa smiled then looked mischievously at Yuffie. "Yuffie. Isn't there something you want to tell Vincent?" Yuffie looked at her questioningly then her eyes widened and she glared at the barkeeper. "Remember the threat I made at Christmas." "Come on Yuf. I told Cloud." Yuffie swallowed and turned to Vincent. "Vincent…I…uh…I like…" She took a deep breath and shouted, "I love you!" before covering her crimson face. Kiara giggled as Vincent stared at her in shock. Finally she pushed him forward. "Kiss her already!"

He shook himself then stepped forward, moving Yuffie's hands and placing his lips to hers.

The bar erupted into cheers along with wolf whistles from Cid and Barrett.

When the kiss broke Yuffie stood stunned. "Wow." Then she smiled. "Come here." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again.

Kiara and Marlene giggled while Denzel just looked disgusted. "Gross."

Yuffie smirked at him. "You won't think so when you're older."

Denzel rolled his eyes and grabbed his two friends by their arms. "Come on. Let's go play."

The two girls giggled again but followed.

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The man watched as three children ran out of a nearby bar. A certain raven haired girl caught his attention.

He smirked. "Found you."

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Kiara closed her eyes to count as her two friends ran off to hide. When she reached ten a hand landed roughly on her shoulder. "Hey!" she cried. "The point of the game…is…to…" Her eyes widen in fear when she turned around.

"Finally found you."

She screamed.

A/N: Evil cliffy. Hehe. Ok to all you Vincent/Yuffie haters out there, I'm sorry but it's my favorite pairing (along with Cloud/Tifa) so if you don't like it sorry. But don't stop reading because of the pairing, it hurts my feelings. Also I could use your guy's help. It has nothing to do with my story. I just got two cute, fluffy baby rabbits and I need names. They are brother and sister the boy's black and white while the girl is white and a grayish brown. So all ya'll send me any names you can think of. Please.


	11. Chapter 11

Warning: There will be bad language in this chapter and most likely the next one too. Just so you know. No use of the F word though, I don't even use that one in my fan fics.

Chapter 11

Kiara's scream rang through the bar.

"Kiara!" Vincent was out of his seat and out the door in a matter of seconds. The rest of AVALANCHE were right behind.

A man had a hold of Kiara's arm and she was screaming at him to let go, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Cerberus was out in a flash, leveled with the man's head. "Let her go! Believe me, I don't miss!"

The man glared at him but released Kiara. She ran to Vincent and he lifted his cloak for her to hide under. He could feel her sobbing and shaking against him as he used his free arm to hold her close. It only enraged him more.

Marlene and Denzel had returned from hiding when she had screamed and were currently hiding amongst AVALANCHE; Marlene with Barrett and Denzel with Tifa and Cloud.

"Who are you?" Vincent asked dangerously, Cerberus still aimed.

The man pointed to where Kiara was hiding. "I'm that little shit's father! Now hand her over!" A shot ricocheted off the wall next to his head.

"Leave." Vincent growled angrily. "Get out of my sight before I do something you won't live to regret."

"Trust me." The man growled. "This isn't over. Not by a long shot." Then he was gone.

Vincent holstered Cerberus and knelt in front of Kiara. She immediately threw her arms around him, sobbing and hiccupping into his shoulder. He held her to him tightly, rubbing her back. "Shhh. Calm down Kiara. He's gone. He can't hurt you."

"Take her up to the kid's room Vince." Tifa said. "Try to get her to calm down."

He stood, carrying Kiara inside and up the stairs. He opened the bedroom door and walked inside, sitting down on one of the beds and holding Kiara in his lap, hugging her close and rocking back and forth.

"He…he was-wasn't…supposed to…to come back." She cried between sobs and hiccups.

"Shh. I know. I know." He stroked her hair as she began to calm down. He continued rocking her until her sobbing had slowed and she had fallen into an uneasy sleep. He took the extra blanket from the edge of the bed and draped it over her.

The door opened and Yuffie stepped in quietly. She walked over and sat on the bed next to the pair, scooting as close to Vincent as possible. He got the hint and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, his other still cradling Kiara.

"It's not fair," She said, brushing a few strands of the girl's raven locks from her face. "what he's doing to her." She clenched her fist. "If that bastard ever comes near her again I'll kill him!"

"You'll have to get in line." Vincent said, kissing her head gently. Yuffie noticed the tiredness in his voice and looked up, eyeing the shadows under his eyes. "You need rest to Vince. Get some sleep." She moved away from his arm and pushed him back into and laying position. He closed his eyes, too tired to argue. He fell asleep almost immediately, Kiara snoozing on his chest, lightly going up and down as he breathed. Yuffie hesitated then laid next to them, snuggling close to Vincent. He opened one weary eye then wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close. She smiled, resting her hand on Kiara's back before closing her eyes.

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Tifa smiled when she peeked her head inside the kid's room an hour later.

She walked over and took the blanket draped over Kiara. She shook it out then draped it across all three of them. They didn't even stir.

Cloud came up behind her and she leaned back against his chest. "They look like a family don't they?" She asked quietly as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Yeah."

Tifa pulled from his arms and grabbed his hand, leading him from the room. "Let's leave them alone." They walked downstairs and were met by the gazes of the rest of AVALANCHE.

"They're resting now." She said as she and Cloud went to the counter.

"Tifa. Is that man gonna take Kiara away?" Marlene asked worried.

Tifa shook her head. "No sweety. But I have no doubt he'll try."

Barrett slammed his glass down on the counter. "That fool can try but he's sure as hell ain't gonna succeed!"

"Damn straight!" Cid agreed. "She's part of the family now! There's no way in hell he's gonna get her!"

"I'll kill him if he even tries." A deep voice said from the stairs.

They looked up to see Vincent walking down quietly. "I left her with Yuffie." He sat at the counter and Cloud passed him a drink.

"Are you still taking her out tonight Vince?" Tifa asked.

"Yes. It'll help get her mind off what's happened. She'd love it if you all came as well."

The barkeeper nodded. "Of course we will."

There was a silence then, "Vincent. You know he's gonna come back for her. " she stated.

He sighed. "I know. But what does he want with her? He doesn't love her as I do. Him throwing a knife at her proves that and that's not the only thing he's done, Kiara has told me many things." He was silent for a moment then he slammed his fist down. "I'll be damned if I let him take her from me!"

Tifa placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. She'd never seen Vincent lose his temper before, but it was understandable why he'd lose it now.

"He won't take her from you. We won't let him."

"If he comes anywhere near Kiara again I'll-"

"Daddy?"

Vincent turned his crimson gaze to Kiara as she walked down the stairs toward him.

"What is it Kiara?" He asked as he helped her climb into his lap, thinking maybe she'd had a nightmare from the incident earlier.

Her answer was totally unexpected.

"Yuffie snores." She said yawning.

Vincent chuckled. "Yes I suppose her snoring would wake anyone up."

She yawned again, closing her eyes and using his shoulder as a pillow.

"Don't go back to sleep. We need to go get cleaned up before we go out. Unless of course you don't want to anymore."

She was off his lap in an instant already running to the door.

Vincent followed her but turned to Cloud before walking out. "I'll leave waking Yuffie up to you." Cloud grinned as he walked out.

They had made it no more than ten feet when a high pitched scream rang out.

"CLOUD STRIFE!"

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The man watched as Vincent and Kiara walked away from the bar, Kiara clutching the gunman's hand.

_Little bitch. As much trouble as your friggin mother was. If I didn't need you I would've killed you right there. _He watched them disappear around a corner and followed. Spending most of his life in dark alleys had its advantages. He could follow without being seen.

Kiara sang as they walked, swinging Vincent's arm back and forth.

_I have to get her away from him somehow. It's the only way. _He remembered how protective the gunman had been of her earlier. _It won't be easy. He obviously loves the little shit, don't know why but he does._

Suddenly Vincent stopped and Kiara looked up at him questioningly.

He pushed her behind him and drew Cerberus, firing off a shot.

The shot hit the ground inches from where the man crouched. He scuttled to his feet and took off cursing. _I'll get her._

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Vincent's heightened hearing picked up hurried footsteps as their stalker ran. He holstered Cerberus and turned to Kiara who was still staring at him questioningly.

"Thought I saw something is all. Don't worry."

"Daddy, don't do that! What if it had been a puppy?!"

He gave her a small smile. "I won't Kiara. Come on. Let's go home." She clasped his hand again and he frowned at the alley as they started walking again. _Next time my shot won't miss._

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Kiara chose a pizza place called Moogle's Pizza and within the first half hour Vincent wanted to blow a hole through the robotic moogle that sang and danced inside. It kept singing one of those bright, happy kid songs over and over again. It was fine the first three times it sang it but then it got annoying. Kiara and Marlene never tired of it though and had even started to sing it.

Vincent sighed as it started to sing it yet again. He saw Yuffie's hand tighten on Conformer as she tried to restrain herself. "If it sings that song one more time I'm going to slice it in half." She growled. Vincent placed a hand over her to stop her from doing something he'd have to pay for.

The moogle passed by their table then suddenly it crashed to the ground. It apparently damaged itself because it gave an electrical fizzling sound and went silent.

_Thank you. _He thought as Kiara and Marlene groaned.

Cid explained to the manager that the robot had tripped over his foot. He failed to mention that he had purposely stuck his foot out.

They went back to Seventh Heaven afterwards and everyone gave Kiara their gifts.

By the time she was done opening she had two more bracelets, a trip to Costa del Sol (courtesy of the Shera) and a book about Chocobos.

Kiara had told everyone who would listen how much she loved Chocobos. In fact, Kiara was half the reason Vincent had bought Kuro.

She also got a crystal Chocobo figurine from Yuffie and a thin gold necklace with a silver and gold Chocobo charm on it from Vincent which she was now wearing.

Afterwards they told the children stories about their first adventure as AVALANCHE. How they had all met. Then Tifa had to bring up the dress. Cloud buried his face in his arms at the counter while Yuffie and the kids fell to the floor with laughter.

"Cloud…Cloud in a dress!" Yuffie laughed, holding her sides.

"Tifa! How could you tell them about that?!"

Cloud exclaimed through his utter humiliation.

Everyone openly laughed at him as he buried face in his arms again. Everyone except Vincent. He chose not to laugh at his friend's expense, only smirk.

That was until Tifa pulled out a picture of Cloud in the said dress. Cloud promptly choked and everyone burst into laughter again and Vincent couldn't help himself as he joined in.

Cloud snatched the photo from her hand. "What…where…how did… where did you get this!" He stuttered.

"Aeris. She took it when you weren't looking. She thought it would make a nice keepsake and gave it to me." Tifa giggled. "And I'm so glad she did. Cid owes me fifteen Gil." Cid grumbled, reaching into his pocket and tossing her the Gil.

"You bet on me!"

Tifa smiled. "Yep!" she didn't sound sorry at all. "And I won!"

"I'm keeping this." He waved the photo. "And using my fire materia on it."

"That's alright." She bent down and pulled something from behind the counter. "I made copies." She placed the stack on the counter and Cloud stared at her open mouthed.

"Now all our friends can have a copy." She giggled.

"Tifa." Cloud warned.

"This is what you get for flushing while I was in the shower this morning." She grinned. "I owe Aeris. She always did have a good sense of humor."

Kiara tugged on Vincent's cloak. "Daddy who's Aeris?"

"She's a dear friend."

"What's she look like?"

Cloud reached into his pocket, hesitating before pulling out the small picture. He handed it to the little girl. "That's Aeris."

"She's pretty."

Tifa took the picture from Kiara's hand. "Cloud. Where did you…?"

"Aeris isn't the only one who takes pictures behind people's backs." He replied quietly.

"Where is she?" Kiara asked.

"She joined the lifestream." Cloud answered sadly.

"Oh." Kiara's face fell for a moment but then she smiled. "That's ok then. She's with mommy. Mommy will take care of her."

Cloud smiled down at her.

"Daddy can I go outside?" she asked Vincent.

Vincent looked out the window. There was still daylight left but dark was fast approaching. "It's almost dark Kiara."

"Please. Just until it gets dark?" She pleaded. "And Marlene and Denzel will be with me."

"I'll go with them Vince." Yuffie said, getting up from her seat. "I'll keep an eye on them."

Vincent stared at her for a moment before nodding. "You stay close to Yuffie, understand?" H addressed his daughter.

She nodded.

"Don't worry Vince." Yuffie assured him, fingering Conformer before strapping it to her back. "If he shows up I'll be sure to hack off a leg or two and leave the rest to you."

Vincent gave a little smirk and nodded.

She grinned and led the three children out the door.

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He watched from the shadows as the three children ran out of the bar accompanied by a young woman no more than nineteen or twenty. He recognized her as another member of AVALANCHE.

_At least it's not the gunman. _He thought as he settled down and waited, biding his time until the ninja was distracted and he could grab Kiara.

He didn't have to wait long.

The young boy went up to talk to her about ten minutes later and as soon as the ninja turned her attentive gaze to the boy he made his move.

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Yuffie turned to Denzel as he walked up. "Come on Yuffie. Co-" He was cut off by Kiara's scream.

Yuffie bolted to her feet, pulling Conformer from her back as the man grabbed Kiara.

"Kiara!"

Vincent and the others were outside in an instant, weapons drawn.

"Daddy!" Kiara cried, struggling in vain against the man. "Daddy help me!"

Vincent aimed Cerberus. "Let her go!" He shouted in rage.

The man drew a knife and placed it to Kiara's small neck. Kiara had the sense to stop struggling so she wouldn't slit her own throat.

"I wouldn't be shooting that off if I were you. You shoot me and my hand might just slip." He sneered, putting slight pressure on the knife, causing a cut and a small gasp of pain from the little girl.

Vincent's body burned with rage as he saw the tears run down Kiara's face. "What do you want with her?!" He demanded, Cerberus still aimed.

"I have a dept to pay and she's payment. I'd love to stand here and explain but I've got a deadline so I'll be seeing ya." He started backing away and Vincent stepped forward.

"I wouldn't do that." He stopped when the man said that.

"Poor AVALANCHE. Helpless to do anything." He taunted, laughing as he disappeared into the shadows, not noticing the folded piece of paper that fell from his pocket.

"Damn it!" Vincent swore when they had disappeared. He walked over and picked up the piece of paper from the ground.

Jonny,

Time to pay up.

Meet us at abandoned

Warehouse 45 to make

The exchange.

That was all it said.

"Warehouse 45. I know where that is." He said to himself, crumbling the paper as he clenched his fist.

Yuffie placed her hand on his shoulder. "Vincent?" He glared at her and she dropped her hand. "You were supposed to be watching her." He growled. She cast her eyes to the ground, shoulders sagging.

"I'm going after her." She looked up just as he tossed her the ball of paper and walked away. She read the paper and followed.

"Hey wait!" Tifa called, but they had already disappeared.

"Great! We don't even know where their going!" She sighed in frustration.

"Let's split up and follow them. One of us is bound to find them." Cloud said and they all nodded.

"Tifa. You stay and watch the kids. We'll be back soon." He placed his hands on the children's heads. "And we'll bring Kiara back with us." They gave small smiles and nodded.

Tifa and the kids watched as the rest of the group followed their two comrades.

A/N: And there you go. It may be a while before I get the next chap up 'cause now I'm back in school so I don't have as much time to write but I'll try to get the next chapter up by this week. I think this was the longest chapter I've ever written for this story so hope you enjoyed. Oh and my bunnies are now named Tifa and Denzel. Believe it or not I actually didn't name the girl after Final Fantasy. Me and my mom love the name Tifa so that's her name and she comes to it too. And Denzel is the only name the boy will answer to, not kidding. If you call him Denzel he'll come right to you. Well hope everyone had a happy and safe new year.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Let me go!" Kiara shouted as her father dragged her through the warehouse doors. "Let me go! I want daddy!"

He tossed her to the ground angrily. "Shut up you little bitch! I'm your father not him!"

She glared at him. "You're my father but you aren't my daddy!"

He aimed a kick at her and she rolled away, getting hastily to her feet and entering in a defensive position Yuffie had taught her, unsure if she was doing it right.

Her father smirked. "You wanna fight do ya? All right then, come here and show me what you got." She hesitated, fear evident on her face. "All right then. I'll come to you." She tensed as he walked towards her menacingly. When he was close enough she threw a punch which he caught easily in his vice grip. He backhanded her to the floor and smirked when she stayed down, holding her face as tears came to her eyes. "Not so tough now are ya?"

She glared at him once more then scooted up against some old crates and wrapped her arms around her knees, burying her face against them. _Daddy… _She pleaded silently. _Please help me._

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Yuffie and Vincent were tense as they snuck around the warehouse.

He hadn't said a word to her since Seventh Heaven. She knew he was raging on the inside because of Kiara's abduction and the ninja's mistake.

She almost said something to him but decided against it. He wasn't gonna listen to any apology of hers until Kiara was safe in his arms.

They looked inside through one of the warehouse's low windows in time to see Kiara hit the floor, her father smirking over her.

Vincent's grip on Cerberus tightened and he started for the warehouse entrance.

"Vincent no!" Yuffie hissed in a whisper, snagging his arm.

"Let me go Yuffie." Vincent demanded in a voice that would make most men tremble in fear. But Yuffie didn't budge, shaking her head.

"We can't just go barging in. he'll just put a knife to her neck again." He tried to pull his arm from her grasp but she only tightened her hold. "We need a plan Vince. If we don't have one she could be hurt or worse killed."

He stopped fighting and turned to face her.

"I have a plan but you'll have to trust me." He was startled to see tears form in her eyes. "I know it's my fault she's here. I screwed up and I know it but you have to trust me now. Please." She bowed her head.

His gaze softened and he realized just how much his comment earlier must have hurt her. He wiped her tears away and lifted her head so she'd meet his gaze. "I trust you." She wrapped her arms around him in a quick hug before backing away, drying her eyes.

She looked around and, spotting what she was looking for, went over and picked up an old brick from the building next door.

"Ok. My plan still involves you walking through the front door but here's what we're gonna do…"

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Vincent already had Cerberus drawn when he walked through the entrance.

The minute Kiara saw him she jumped to her feet, running to him. "Daddy!" But her father snagged her hair and she cried out as he pulled her back. "Where do you think you're going?"

Vincent's eyes flashed dangerously and he eyed the bruise on Kiara's face where her father had hit her.

Her father drew a knife and placed it to her neck once more. "So you decided to come back for the little wench. Well you can't have her. I need her."

Vincent's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You said you needed her to pay a debt. What did you mean?"

"I'm a gambling man. My life revolves around the game of chance. Well I gambled everything I owned and lost it all. I still owe someone money but since I have none they gave me a choice. Either my life or something I hold dear. Since I didn't have anything I asked them to give me two months to find my 'beloved' daughter and wife and they could have one of them.

"I knew my bitch wife had taken Kiara and run to this city so I followed. I found out about a woman and child who had lived in an old apartment and knew by their description that it was them. Turns out the mother had died a little over a year ago and the kid had run off. I figured she had died, since there was no way she could last long on her own. Imagine my surprise when I saw her run out of that bar alive and happy as can be."

"Why?!" Vincent demanded angrily. "Why would you sacrifice your own flesh and blood to save yourself?! Kiara was a gift bestowed upon you yet you care nothing for her!"

Kiara's father laughed then. "My 'flesh and blood'! Yeah right! She ain't mine, that whoring bitch she called mother cheated on me and Kiara was the result. But as far as anyone knows, she's mine. Says so on the birth certificate."

Vincent's grip tightened on Cerberus as he brought it up. "She's not rightfully yours. You have no right to do this to her." He saw Yuffie in the shadows behind the man, brick in hand and kept talking. "I adopted Kiara because I care for her, and believe me when I say there isn't a thing in the world that could stop me from getting her back, I won't hesitate to kill you either."

Her father chuckled. "You care for her huh? Well guess what, I don't-" He was cut off when Yuffie slammed the brick into the back of his head. The knife fell from his hand and his grasp on Kiara went slack. She pulled from him and ran to Vincent.

Vincent scooped her up as her father fell to the floor heavily. Yuffie strode past the fallen man, tossing the brick aside and smiling when it bounced off his head with a satisfying thunk.

"Are you alright?" Vincent asked Kiara and she nodded, snuggling further into his arms, her own wrapped around his chest. He tried to loosen her hold so he could hand her to Yuffie but she just tightened her grip.

"It's alright Kiara. I'm just letting Yuffie take you." Her grip loosened a bit and Yuffie stepped forward. "Come on kiddo." She took Kiara and Vincent stepped forward, standing in front of the man collapsed on the floor.

The man glared up at him from the ground with dazed eyes, still trying to recover from the hit.

Vincent wanted nothing more than to blow a hole through the loser's head. If he lived he would just go after Kiara again. He aimed Cerberus and saw fear in the man's eyes. There was a click and…

"Daddy don't!" Kiara's voice cried and he turned as the girl wiggled free from Yuffie's arms and ran to him, grabbing his cloak. "Don't kill him!" She tugged at the red material as if to pull him away from the man on the floor.

"Kiara? After what he's done…"

"I know he's been bad! I know he did something wrong but it's wrong to kill him too! Two wrongs don't make a right! You taught me that!" He lowered his gun a bit and she continued. "Please just leave him! Let's go home! I just wanna go home!" Her voice had turned pleading.

He sighed and lowered his gun, his eyes softening at her pleading gaze.

"She's right Vince." Yuffie said. "I hate to admit it but she is."

He nodded then glared back down at the man at his feet. "You're lucky she was here or I would have killed you. I want nothing more than to kill you right now but it seems you've been saved by the very person you intended to hurt." He holstered Cerberus and scooped Kiara up in his arms. "But I swear if you come near her again I will kill you."

He turned away and back to Yuffie. Kiara stuck her tongue out at the fallen man as they walked out of the warehouse.

The man glared as they left and struggled to his knees. _Damn him. _Suddenly someone was behind him, enshrouding him in their shadow. "Well Jonny." He looked up at the man whose face was shadowed. "Looks like you failed to bring me your 'beloved' family." There was laughter in his voice. "Guess what that means?" Jonny's eyes widened in fear as the man aimed the gun between his eyes and pulled the trigger.

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Kiara jumped as a gunshot rang through the air. Vincent held her tighter. "It's alright Kiara." _At least we won't have to worry about him anymore. _He thought as they made their way back to Seventh Heaven.

They heard padded paw steps and spotted Nanaki running towards them.

"There you are." He breathed. "And you've rescued Kiara. Thank goodness." He pointed an accusing paw at them. "You left without warning and we had no idea where you had gone."

Yuffie smiled sheepishly. "Sorry Naki. We were kinda in a hurry."

Kiara wiggled in Vincent's arms and he set her down as Nanaki crouched so she could climb on his back. She settled herself comfortably and clutched fistfuls of his fur at the base of his head.

Vincent contacted everyone as the started walking again.

He noticed that even though Yuffie's mood had lifted a bit she still kept her eyes downcast. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she looked up at him. "I'm sorry for what I said to you earlier. I was wrong to blame you." She shook her head. "No. you were right."

"I don't blame you Yuffie and I don't want you to blame yourself either."

She smiled at him and leaned into his embrace as they walked.

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Everyone was already there and waiting when they made it back to Seventh Heaven.

Kiara slid off of Nanaki and ran to stand in front of the group. Marlene and Denzel crashed into her and they landed in a laughing heap.

Cid ruffled her hair as they stood. "Should have known we couldn't get rid of you that easy Pipsqueak." She grinned.

"Daddy and Yuffie saved me."

Tifa smiled. "Welcome home Kiara."

Kiara laughed when Vincent came up behind her and placed her on his shoulders. "Yes and home is where she'll stay."

Marlene ran to Barrett and he lifted her to his shoulder as well.

Denzel stared up at his two friends, looking a little left out then grinned and turned to Cloud. Cloud stared at him like he was crazy. "You gotta be kidding me."

"Aww come on Cloud. I'm not that heavy."

Cloud shook his head. "Nope."

Denzel sighed and glared at him then gave a startled cry when Barrett grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and placed him on the large man's other shoulder.

They stayed that way until Tifa ordered Marlene and Denzel to bed. They said goodnight and shuffled inside.

"Come on Kiara." Vincent said and she looked down at him. "Let's go home."

She grinned and nodded.

A/N: I couldn't think of any other way to end this chapter. Ok this story is coming to a close. In the next chapter I'm just gonna show different times in Kiara's life. I might have enough stuff for two chapters or just one long one. What do you guys think? One long chap or two regular sized ones? I already have ten pages (notebook paper) of the next chap written so it should be up by next week. Please read and review, k. TTFN ta ta for now.


	13. The End

A/N: Like I said in the last chapter, this chap will go through different times in Kiara's life. There was also enough for me to make two chaps and this is way longer than my others so enjoy.

Chapter 13

_3 years later_

"Really?! He's mine?!" A nine year old Kiara exclaimed as she ran to the silver Chocobo standing patiently.

It warked as she stroked it's neck, bending it's head forward and nudging her with it's beak.

Vincent smiled and nodded. "Yes. Kuro wasn't young when we bought him and he's getting on in years, so Yuffie and I decided that you were old enough for one of your own. He's a yearling, hasn't even been named yet."

Kiara laughed as she ran and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She said over and over before running back to the Chocobo and putting her foot in the stirrup, pulling herself up onto the bird's back.

She gathered the reins and tapped his side with her heel. He gave a wark and took off at a fast pace. Kiara cheered. Kuro couldn't go this fast, she'd never gone this fast before.

Vincent kept his eyes on her the whole time. Yearlings could be unpredictable sometimes but he was sure he and Yuffie had made a right choice with this one.

He watched her for an hour as she walked, trotted and did formations on the new Chocobo, all the while a smile lighting her face. Then he called to her.

"Kiara! Time to go home! You know how Yuffie will get if we're late!"

Kiara groaned but hopped off. She gave the bird a quick kiss on the beak before handing him over to a stable hand.

"Yeah I know. She's been really moody lately." She said, walking next to Vincent as they headed home. "Can't wait for the baby to be born! Then I'll have a new sibling and Yuffie's mood swings will be over!" Her fist shot in the air from her barely contained excitement.

Vincent smiled, remembering how on his and Yuffie's wedding day Kiara had demanded a new baby brother or sister soon.

"When's the baby due again?" She asked.

"Two months."

She smiled. "Can't wait. Ok, getting off the subject, when's Damien coming over for a visit? Uncle Cid hasn't brought him over in months."

"I'm sure he'll be here when the new baby is born."

She nodded.

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They wouldn't let her in the delivery room two months later so she sat, pouting, as her new sibling was born.

Marlene actually laughed at the look on her face as she and Denzel tried to get her to smile.

Kiara bit back a smile as the two made faces. Then she squealed when Denzel poked her in the side, her ticklish spot. Tifa looked over at them sternly, this was a hospital and they shouldn't be so loud but she had to laugh as she watched the torment the two children began putting Kiara through, each attacking one of her sides. Cid's small son Damien giggled from Shera's lap as he watched.

The laughter lasted for another five minutes then ceased when the delivery door opened. Kiara shot to her feet and ran over as Vincent stepped through the door, a small wrapped bundle in his arms.

"Lemme see! Lemme see!" Vincent sat down so she could see the newborn. "Wow." She said quietly as she stared at the sleeping baby.

"Meet your new brother." She smiled and reached out to touch her new brother's hand. His fingers curled around her pinky as he slept.

"What's his name?"

"We haven't decided yet."

"Lucas. Name him Lucas." She looked up at Vincent and he smiled.

"We'll have to talk to Yuffie but that is a very good name Kiara."

She grinned, then, "Um can I…can I hold him?" She asked hesitantly.

Vincent nodded as she sat down. He passed the baby to her and adjusted her arms so she was holding him right. Kiara smiled down at him. "I'll protect him." She said quietly and Vincent looked at her questioningly. "No matter what I'll protect my little brother." She looked up at Vincent. "Just like you protected me daddy."

Vincent smiled and stood, taking the baby from her arms. "Come on. You can come see Yuffie now." She jumped off the chair and followed him through the doors. She smiled as they walked down the hall. _No matter what they decide, I'm calling him Lucas._

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_3 years later_

Yuffie and Vincent clapped as the Chocobos walked out onto the track. The now three year old Lucas pointed Kiara out giggling and clapping his hands together. Kiara rode out on her silver Chocobo she had decided to call Thunder Cloud.

After much pestering from Yuffie and Kiara, Vincent had reluctantly agreed to let Kiara enter Thunder in a race for kids her age. Ages 11-15 were out there on Chocobos of all shapes and sizes.

His daughter was now currently lining Thunder up alongside the other Chocobos at the starting line.

The stands went quiet then the starting gun fired and the birds were off, the stands roaring once more.

Yuffie jumped up and cheered Kiara on while Vincent held Lucas as he tried to follow his mother's example.

As the Chocobos rounded the first turn he noticed Thunder wasn't going as fast as he normally did and he was struggling to keep forth place. Vincent also noticed there was something slightly off with his gait.

"What's wrong with Thunder?" Yuffie asked as the pack of birds rounded the last turn and entered the home stretch.

Vincent didn't answer as he studied the pair on the track. He smirked when he noticed how bird and rider were slowly picking up speed, coming up and passing the third place bird. "It was a trick." Yuffie looked at him questioningly but he shook his head to tell her he'd explain later.

Kiara gave Thunder a signal kick and he put on a burst of speed, shooting forward past the second bird and the leader to take first place and the win.

The crowds roared at the unexpected come back and Yuffie and Vincent stood, heading down to the winners circle.

"So what did you mean when you said it was a trick?"

"you noticed how Thunder couldn't seem to find the speed he needed?" She nodded. "Well that was the trick. She made the leader think he didn't have to go any faster. So while the second and third birds were going as fast as they could she held back, causing the leader to get cocky and not push the bird to its max speed."

They arrived at the winners where people were crowding around Thunder who look immensely proud of himself.

Kiara waved from his back. "Daddy! Yuffie!"

The two walked up to the side of the Chocobo and Lucas reached up to his sister. "Ara!" Kiara smiled and took him in her arms, placing him in the saddle in front of her.

Vincent gave Thunder a pat and looked up at Kiara. "Good job Kiara. That was a clever trick you pulled out there."

She grinned. "Piece of cake, I'll whip them all next time too!"

Vincent shot her a look and she sighed. "I know. I know. 'Don't get cocky' I get it."

They turned and smiled as the picture was taken.

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_3 years later_

"Absolutely not!" Vincent said firmly.

"But it's just one and it's only to the movies!" Kiara exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips in a very Yuffie like manner.

Vincent shook his head. "No. you know what I said. No dating until you're sixteen."

"But I'm fifteen! It's not a big deal daddy, it's just one date!" Lucas watched from a chair as the two argued.

"If it's no big deal you should have no problem waiting one more year."

"I bet Yuffie got to go on dates at fifteen! Why can't I?!"

"Yuffie is the reason you're dating at sixteen! If I had my way you wouldn't date until you were married!

"You're so overprotective!" She shouted in frustration and stomped up the stairs to her room. Lucas followed her.

Vincent stared after them wondering where Kiara had picked up such a fiery temper. She had never argued with him before except for maybe a small one here and there.

He heard a chuckle behind him and turned to see Yuffie leaning against the doorframe of their bedroom. "She's a teenager now Vince. She's not gonna stay sweet and innocent all the time. Heck I'm impressed. I argued with my dad every minute of the day as soon as I hit puberty."

"Then I'm thankful she is not like you."

"Vince, let her go." She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him. "It's just one."

He shook his head. "No. she's too young. I let you talk me into sixteen but I draw the line at fifteen. When she turns sixteen then she can go out and only if I approve of the boy."

Yuffie sighed. "She's right you know. You are waaay too protective."

"And proud of it."

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_2 months later_

Kiara sat in the corner of Thunder Cloud's stall, cradling the sick bird's head in her lap. No one knew what had caused the bird to fall ill and none of the vets knew what was killing him. One thought it might be some kind of cancer. All anyone knew for sure though was that Thunder was dying and there was no cure.

Kiara sniffled, wiping her red, swollen eyes and opening her photo album she had brought with her. She flipped through the photos and showed them to her companion, talking to him as he gave small, weak warks every now and then.

She finally stopped on a picture of her and Thunder sleeping in front of a sakura tree Yuffie had brought over from Wutai that was planted and thriving right outside the stable. Thunder was nestled down, feet tucked under him and Kiara was leaning back against his side as he rested his head in her lap, his long neck allowing him to do so.

The sound of booted feet coming down the hall made her look up and she saw Vincent standing at the entrance of the stall, blanket in hand.

He stared at her sadly and walked over, kneeling down and wrapping the blanket around her shoulders.

He placed a hand on Thunders head and ruffled his feathers affectionately. "How are you Thunder?" Thunder warked weakly in answer, trying to lift his head but failing.

"You took real good care of Kiara for me. I thank you for that." He looked back at Kiara. "I figured you'd want to stay here for the night."

She nodded.

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead gently. "I'll be back in the morning. Have hope Kiara. Miracles do happen." He kissed her head once more and gave Thunder one last pat before walking out.

Kiara and Thunder laid there for a few minutes then Kiara moved. "Come on Thunder. Let's go sleep by the sakura tree at least one more time."

She got on her knees and pushed, helping him to his feet. He swayed and put a good amount of his weight against her as they left the stable and walked to the sakura tree. Thunder collapsed to the ground in front of it, strength spent, and Kiara sat next to him, leaning against him and holding his head in her lap again. She draped the blanket over him, keeping very little for herself.

"I love you Thunder." She mumbled as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

He warked softly, nipping her fingers affectionately and making her smile.

She placed a hand on his head and let sleep take her.

0

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0

"Kiara. Kiara." A sweet voice called and Kiara opened her eyes. She gasped and stood, looking around. She was standing in a field of flowers which were the only colorful things she could see since everything else was pure, blinding white.

"Where am I?"

"It is a dream." The sweet voice said again and Kiara whirled around to see a woman clad in pink standing there.

"You're… you're Aeris! You're the flower girl from Cloud's picture!"

Aeris nodded. "Yes. It's nice to finally meet you Kiara. I've been watching you and the others for quite some time." She smiled sadly. "I know you're hurting Kiara. You've prayed to the planet many times and to me on occasion. Though I am sorry we cannot answer your prayers. It is Thunder's time to join the lifestream."

"But…you cured the Geostigma! If you can cure that surely you can help Thunder!" Her voice held desperation.

Aeris shook her head. "The Geostigma was an unnatural illness. The planet and I cured Cloud and those children of the stigma because it wasn't their time yet. Though I do have the power to cure Thunder, I won't because it would be going against the planet. Going against the natural flow of life."

"But he's my friend." Kiara cried, sounding like a small child once more.

"I know he is. Just as I was the friend of al of AVALANCHE. Everyone loses someone they love sooner or later in their lives and I know your pain. I lost someone I loved too but know this; though we lose someone while we live, we will join them when we die. I found that out when I met up with my loved one."

Kiara gasped as Thunder appeared beside her looking proud and strong as if he was a yearling again. A man with spiky black hair stood next to him.

"Thunder." Kiara whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face there. The man went to stand by Aeris.

"I'll miss ya boy." She muttered as the bird warked and laid his head over her shoulder, beak touching her back in a sort of hug.

She backed away and stroked his beak affectionately. "You be good alright." He warked again. She looked at Aeris. "You'll take care of him right?"

Both spirits nodded. "He'll be here when you come back." Aeris said and the man spoke up. "Hey, when you get back down there tell Cloud his buddy Zack says hi."

Kiara nodded. Thunder nudged her and she kissed his beak. "I'll see you later ok boy." He bobbed his head in affirmative.

She sighed and took a deep breath, closing her eyes once more.

0

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Kiara's eyes shot open and she sat bolt up right, looking around. The sun had just started to rise. She sighed and leaned back against Thunder's warm body. She turned her head to face him. "I just had the strangest…dream…" she trailed off.

Thunder hadn't stirred.

Kiara began to panic as she placed a hand to the bird's chest. No heartbeat.

"No. no no no no." She whispered over and over again, shaking her head. She wrapped her arms around him and sobbed into his feathers, tightening her hold as if to force life back into him.

That's how Vincent found her an hour later. He sighed and knelt next to her, enveloping her in his arms. She latched onto him and he rocked back and forth like he'd done so many times when she was a child.

"Shhh." He tried to soothe her but knew she'd cry until there was no more tears then she would cry again the next day.

He looked to where Yuffie was watching them sadly from the stable entrance, holding Lucas's hand in her own. Vincent stood, Kiara still in his arms. Though she was no longer a child he could still pick her up as if she weighed nothing. She cried into his shoulder as he held her tight against him and walked to his wife and son.

"Kia!" Lucas called, breaking from his mother's grasp and running to meet his father and sibling.

Kiara turned her tearful, grief –ridden face to him.

"Kia? Are you ok?" He asked, using his nickname for her. Kiara saw concern and a small bit of fear cloud his eyes. Never in all his six years of life had he seen her break down, not like this.

Kiara moved and Vincent placed her on her feet. She fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around Lucas, shoulders shaking from suppressed sobs. He was startled for a moment then wrapped his arms around her trembling form. Yuffie knelt and wrapped both in her embrace.

Vincent placed a hand on Kiara's head. "Kiara. Go with Yuffie and go home." Kiara looked up at him with tearful eyes. "But…what about…" she trailed off as her eyes locked on Thunder, still by the sakura tree.

"I'll take care of him." Vincent said softly. "You go home."

She nodded and the three stood up. Yuffie kept an arm around her as they walked away. "It'll be ok." She told Kiara and the teen looked to her. "Life goes on. Like it always does." She gave her a small smile. "You'll see him again. I promise."

Kiara stared ahead for a moment then a small smile formed on her face and she nodded. "Thanks…mom." She turned her smile to Yuffie and the ninja's eyes widened before she tightened her arm around the girl's shoulders. "You're welcome."

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_One year later_

Kiara rested on the couch, book open in her lap as she read.

She heard a shout and turned her gaze from her book, looking out the window. Her face grew angry when she saw two boys picking on Lucas outside. She got to her feet, hard back book in hand as she walked out the door.

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"Leave me alone!" Lucas shouted, only to be pushed down. These boys were at least three years older than him and they were a lot bigger too.

"What are you gonna do if we don't pipsqueak?" One boy tainted.

"You should be more worried about what I'm gonna do." A voice behind them said and someone grabbed them by their collars, pulling them away from Lucas. The boys turned their heads to meet the fierce emerald eyes of Kiara. She held them still and said dangerously, "If you ever come near my brother again you'll regret it." She shoved them forward and hit them across their heads with her book for good measure. "Now get outta here you little punks." They didn't need telling twice and were gone in a flash.

Kiara turned to where Lucas was still on the ground, looking up at her with admiration. She reached a hand out and he took it. "You ok Luke?" she asked as she helped him up. He nodded. "Yeah. Thanks sis."

She smiled. "It was nothing. I'll teach anyone who messes with my little bro a lesson." She draped an arm casually around his shoulders. "Come on. Let's go get some lunch, I'm sure Tifa won't mind feeding us."

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_A few months later_

Vincent watched through the window as the blonde-haired boy walked Kiara to the front door.

"Are you spying on them?!" A voice hissed incredulously and Vincent turned to see Yuffie standing there, hands on her hips.

He nodded. "Yes." There wasn't a hint of regret or remorse in his voice.

Yuffie sighed and went to stand next to him as he turned his gaze back to the couple. "You're waaaaaaaaay to protective."

"and like I said before ' I'm proud of it.'" He replied.

They watched the couple talk for a few minutes then the boy leaned towards Kiara and Yuffie smiled. Vincent narrowed his eyes and headed for the door. Yuffie grabbed his cloak and pulled him back. "Don't even think about it buster. Let her enjoy her first kiss alright." Vincent sighed and gave in, looking back at the window as the two teens broke apart. "I still don't like it." He said.

"That boy, Bobby, is the same one that asked Kiara out a year ago." Yuffie said, looking at Vincent. "He hasn't dated a girl since. He's been waiting for Kiara for a year, now you look me in the eye and tell me he's a bad kid."

"I never said he was a bad kid Yuffie. I just don't like anyone touching my little girl."

She grinned. "Don't worry Vince. He won't be 'touching' her for a very, VERY long time. Besides, you taught her how to shoot didn't you? She's almost as good as you are so I don't think many boys will be making moves on her." She wrapped her arms around his waist and stared up at him as he returned the embrace. "But that no touching rule doesn't apply to us does it?" He smirked. "No Yuffie I don't think it does." Their lips met in a kiss that lasted a good two minutes.

Someone cleared their throat.

The two broke apart and twirled around to stare at the amused emerald eyed teen in the doorway who was grinning. "Oh I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?"

Yuffie glared at her. "Yes as a matter of fact. You are." This only caused Kiara's grin to widen.

"Alright, I get the hint. I'll go check on Lucas then I'm off to bed." She started to leave and close the door behind her. "You two have fun now." She said, before the door closed with a snap.

The two stared after her before Yuffie got Vincent's attention and their lips met once more.

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_2 years later_

Vincent watched yet again from the window as Bobby knelt in front of Kiara, pulling a small box from his pocket.

"You knew didn't you?" He asked as Yuffie came up behind him. "You knew he was going to propose."

She nodded. "Yes. He asked me and I gave him my blessing. I told him to go ahead and that I would talk to you."

"Why didn't he ask me?" Vincent almost growled.

"Vinnie can you look me in the eye and honestly say you wouldn't have tried to kill him?" She smiled. "She loves him Vince. And she's eighteen so there's really nothing you can do about." Kiara's cry of joy drifted through the window as she answered Bobby. "You can either turn them away or give them your blessing. What's it gonna be?" She crossed her arms, waiting for his answer.

"You know I would never turn Kiara away." He turned and walked out of the bedroom, heading for the front door. He opened it as Bobby was twirling Kiara around. They stopped when he stepped out.

They stared at each other in silence for a minute then Vincent sighed. "One year." He said finally. "Wait one more year and you have my blessing."

Kiara's smile was a light in the night as she threw herself in his arms. "Thank you! Oh daddy thank you!"

He smiled and wrapped his arms around her. _My little one is growing up. _He thought as he kissed her head. _She's no longer a little girl. _Yuffie walked out to congratulate the new couple and Kiara pulled from his arms.

Vincent mentally shook his head as Yuffie embraced her step-daughter. _No. no matter how old she gets, she'll always be my little one. _And with that last thought Vincent smiled, wrapping Kiara in his embrace once more.

A/N: So there ya go, the last chap. Was it good? It's six pages longer than all my normal chaps and it's over 4,000 words so be happy : ). This story has come to an end but I'm already working on four more. One is Kingdom Hearts and the other three are FF VII if anyone is interested, the KH one is already up but not sure when the FF VII ones will be up though. Anyway thank you for all the reviews you all sent me and thanks for the ideas some of you sent me also, they really helped. I was gonna put the names of all the reviewers who helped me but there were too many so if you guys helped me HERE'S A BIG SHOUT OUT. Ok well see ya later. TTFN ta ta for now


	14. Deleted Chapter

A/N: This extra chap will explain what happened to Kiara as Nero attacked the Shera during the Midgar assault, so this is dedicated to those of you who wanted another chap and to those who were wondering what happened.

Orphan deleted chapter

_The Shera_

_Midgar Assault_

Kiara followed Shelke into the sickbay and watched as she sat down, placing the strange helmet on her head. Kiara cocked her head curiously and tapped her on the arm.

"What is it?" Shelke asked emotionlessly.

"What are you doing?"

"Contacting Vincent Valentine to give him an update on the battle and to find out his location."

"Can I talk to daddy?"

Shelke sighed. "I suppose you can tell him hello but that is all. This is a battle and there's no time to stand around and talk." Slight irritation had crept into her voice.

"Ok."

The former Tsviet focused on the task at hand, leaving the child to stare at her in anticipation. "Uplink successful."

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_In front of Shinra Building_

Vincent studied the Shinra Building for a moment before walking towards it. Suddenly his phone rang and he flipped it open.

"Hi daddy!" Kiara's cheerful voice came over the line and Vincent chuckled. It amazed him that she could still be so cheerful even in the thick of battle.

"Hello Kiara."

Shelke's emotionless monotone came over the line. "Vincent Valentine. The ground squads have not been able to penetrate the Deepground defenses. The mako reactors are still running at full capacity."

Vincent looked around, keeping an eye out for enemies. "So it seems."

"What is your location?"

"Shinra Building…" He turned to look at the ruined building again. "Or what remains of it."

"The same as it was three years ago. Though, after meteorfall, there wasn't much left of Midgar at all. With the exception of Deepground." There was a slight pause before Shelke continued. "The passage to Deepground is located within Shinra Building. Search for the president's personal entrance."

Vincent gave a slight nod even though she wasn't there to see it. "Alright." Suddenly pain shot through him and he gasped, clutching at his chest as he stumbled. He looked up and tried to focus but his vision grew hazy before blacking out all together. He fell to his knees, the phone falling from his hand as he tried to fight off the demon that roared to be released in his mind.

Shelke's voice came over the phone. "Is something wrong?"

"Daddy?" Kiara's voice joined hers.

Clawed pawsteps suddenly sounded behind Vincent and a DG hound leapt at him. Vincent slammed the back of his claw into its face without even looking behind him, sending the hound flying to land in a bloody heap ten feet away.

Vincent stood and his head flew back, an inhuman roar tearing from his throat. Chaos fought to break free of Vincent's hold and Vincent's body was engulfed in demonic energy, his eyes ablaze with chaos' demonic power. Vincent fought against the struggling demon with all the energy and strength he possessed. _I won't lose control! I can't!_

Shelke and Kiara shouted across the phone. "Vincent!" "Daddy!"

Their voices combined gave him the strength and he rammed Chaos back. He fell to his knees again, gasping and breathing heavily.

He looked down at himself in confusion, clenching and unclenching his fists. "What's…what's going on? Why is Chaos…? Why now?"

Shelke sighed. "You really don't know, do you? The Protomateria helped you control Chaos. Now that you've lost it, your mental state has become extremely unstable."

Vincent stared at the phone on the ground. "Protomateria? Control Chaos?"

"Yes." Shelke confirmed. "If you recall, you had it extracted from your chest by Rosso."

There was a long pause then Shelke's voice became Lucrecia's. "Chaos. While a part of you, the entity exists independently from the rest of your body."

"Shelke?" Vincent questioned.

"Chaos. The harbinger of anarchy." Shelke's voice had returned.

Vincent sensed something behind him and whirled around, looking upon an illusion of Lucrecia standing there.

"Lucrecia."

The voice flickered between Shelke's and Lucrecia's as the illusion spoke. "Born before the planet dies," the illusion walked towards Vincent slowly. "He shall gather together all life for Omega's journey to the sea of stars. That is Chaos. And he slumbers inside you."

The illusion stopped its advance and its voice took on a determined, desperate edge. "Vincent! I'm so sorry! You must fight him! I don't want you to die!"

The illusion disappeared and Vincent took fast steps forward towards where she had stood. "Lucrecia!"

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_The Shera_

"You must fight him!" Shelke said desperately as Kiara watched in worry. "I don't want you to die!"

The helmet the former Tsviet wore sparked and sizzled as a small explosion went off inside it, cutting off Shelke's link to Vincent. She took the helmet off as alarms sounded and the alert lights flashed.

"Come on." Shelke ordered and Kiara nodded, following her out of the sickbay at a run.

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"Hey! Engine room!" Cid shouted, trying to get someone to answer. "What the hell's going on down there!? Engine room! Dammit!" He slammed his fist down in frustration.

The Bridge door slid open and Kiara ran in, followed closely by Shelke. Kiara ran up the stairs to stand by Cid while Shelke stayed on the deck below.

"What is wrong?" Shelke asked.

Cid shook his head. "Don't have a damn clue. All of a sudden engine levels began dropping like crazy. We haven't taken any direct hits so everything should be running like clockwork!" His voice was laced with anger as he slammed his fist down angrily once more. Kiara looked up at him then turned her eyes to the monitor next to the steering control where she saw engine levels keep dropping, going well into the red zone. _That's really bad._

"I'll go down and look!" She said, starting down the stairs.

Cid grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her back to his side. "Oh no you won't! Vincent would kill me if I let anything happen to you! You're staying right here with me!" Kiara crossed her arms and pouted.

"I will go have a look." Shelke offered.

Cid nodded. "Thanks. Countin' on ya."

"Good luck!" Kiara smiled at her.

Shelke cast her eyes to the floor thoughtfully before taking off out the door, her mako educed speed aiding her.

Kiara looked up at Cid as the engine levels slowly continued to drop. "Are we gonna be all right Uncle Cid?"

Cid smirked down at her. "Sure we are! It'll take more than a little engine trouble to take my bird down!" He placed a hand on her head and ruffled her hair. "Don't worry Pipsqueak. I'll get this old girl through this battle then you can see Vincent again."

Kiara smiled and nodded.

They were silent for a moment, then Cid spoke. "Maybe when all this is over I'll show you how to fly the Shera."

Kiara beamed up at him, eyes wide with hope. "Really?! All by myself?!"

Cid looked at her like she was crazy. "Of course not by yourself! Vincent would have my ass! And no one flies my baby without me there!"

"But I'll still be able to fly her right?"

"Yeah." Cid smirked. "But first we have to get rid of these Deepground bastards."

Kiara nodded, used to his foul language by now.

They watched the battle below for a few minutes when suddenly engine levels shot way low and the ship jerked.

"What the hell!" Cid shouted angrily.

"Captain! Main engine failure! All power is being lost to remaining engines!"

"Shit! What in the blazes is going on in that engine room?!"

A pilot looked up at Cid frantically. "All power to the engines has been lost! We have to make an emergency crash landing!"

Cid nodded. "Do it! Try to land in a safe area! The last fuckin' thing we need is to land behind enemy lines!"

Kiara wrapped her arms tightly around Cid's waist as the pilot did what he could to steer the _Shera _into friendly territory.

"Aw shit! Everyone hold onto your asses!" Cid shouted, letting go of the wheel and wrapping his arms tightly around his niece. "Hold on Kiara!"

Kiara buried her face against him as the _Shera _hit the ground, throwing the pilot back into the wall, Kiara still wrapped up safe in his arms.

The airship skidded along the burnt, battle scarred plains outside Midgar/Edge. It came to a jarring stop and Kiara lifted her head. "You ok Uncle Cid?" She asked worriedly.

The captain groaned and sat up, rubbing his sore head and back. "Yeah I'm all right. You hurt Pipsqueak?"

She shook her head and Cid stood. "Alright!" He shouted. "Roll call! Who's not dead?!"

Six groans from the six WRO members sounded.

Kiara looked out the large Bridge window and watched as the battle progressed not too far away. Explosions in the air showed that a few airships still stood.

"We'll wait here for someone to answer the distress call I sent out right before we crashed." Cid said, sitting down on the deck. Kiara sat down next to him and sighed, readying herself for a long wait.

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Vincent stood on one of the many walkways that connected the branch buildings to the main Shinra Building. He flipped open his phone and dialed #VIN, intent on reaching Shelke to find out where to go. All he got was a busy signal. His brow furrowed and he flipped it closed. Just as he was putting it away it rang. He flipped it open and the sound of battle reached his ears.

"Hey! I got through!" Tifa's voice called over the line.

"Tifa?"

"What!? You got through?!" Barrett's voice cut in. "Hey, Vincent!!! You still alive?!" He shouted, the sound of his gunarm sounding in the background.

"Of course he is, we're talking to him aren't we?" Tifa commented. "And did you really have to shout right next to my ear?"

Barrett laughed. "Sorry about that Tifa!"

"I apologize Vincent." The martial artist said. "Here's Cloud."

There was the sound of the phone being handed over and then Cloud came on the line, the sound of his clashing blade obvious in the background. "Vincent?"

"Cloud. It's been awhile."

"Yeah. Listen, have you heard from the Shera?"

"Cid's airship? No. I tried contacting them right before you called. I couldn't get through." He was beginning to fear what the swordsman would say next.

Cloud sighed. "That's what I thought. We lost contact about fifteen minutes ago."

Vincent's blood ran cold and his stomach dropped. _Kiara!_

"Don't worry Vince." Cloud reassured him, reading his silence. "I'm sure she's fine. Those three will be fine."

Vincent sighed. "Yeah…"

"Keep your mind on the mission. Focus. If the Shera did go down then Reeve will have people going out there now."

Vincent nodded. "Alright. But contact me as soon as you hear anything."

"Right. Can you hold on a minute? Tifa!"

The phone was handed over to Tifa. "Vincent. I'm sending you a map of the Shinra Building."

The map appeared on his phone screen. "Deepground is located deep beneath the complex. Take the elevator as far down as you can."

"Right. Thanks Tifa."

"Good luck!"

"Give 'em hell Vincent!!!" Barrett shouted.

"Barrett! I thought I told you-"

Cloud cut her sentence off. "Don't go getting yourself killed out there!" Then there was a click and the call was ended.

Vincent let out a small chuckle as he flipped his phone closed. He sobered. _Kiara. _He thought worriedly. _I shouldn't worry. Cid will take good care of her I'm sure. _Then he continued on.

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Kiara jumped up and down, waving her arms at the approaching group of WRO members. She stood on the Shera's tilted wing, about five feet off the ground. "Yuffie!" She shouted, jumping from the wing and into the ninja's open arms.

"Hey kiddo!" Yuffie set her on the ground as the squad of WRO members passed, walking over to help their injured comrades.

"What took you so long Brat?!" Cid shouted, walking over.

"We had to walk old man! None of the vehicles could be taken from the fight to come save your sorry ass!" The ninja crossed her arms and glared at him while Kiara watched the two expectantly; it was always worth a watch when Cid and Yuffie went at it.

"Well it took you too fuckin' long!"

"Well if you hadn't crashed in the first place!"

"Shut up! Come on, I want to get my hands on those Deepground bastards! They'll pay for doing this to my baby!" Cid's hand tightened around his Venus Gospel in anger.

"You didn't even take any critical hits, how is it Deepground's fault? It was probably your bad driving!"

"My girl was perfectly fine before the fight! It had to be Deepground!"

They continued yelling at each other for a good five minutes and WRO members started making bets on who would win the argument. Finally Kiara pushed between them and tried to push them apart. "Stop it!" They looked down at her. "We gotta go!" She told them. "Daddy and the others are fighting now. Shouldn't you be helping?"

The two stared down at her then at each other. "Fine." Cid mumbled before turning to the rest of the squad. "Come on! Hurry the hell up!"

Kiara smiled at the squad members who were arguing and looking confused , trying to decide who won. "Yuffie won." Kiara said cheerfully.

"What do ya mean pipsqueak?!" Cid shouted. "We never finished!"

Kiara smirked and placed her hands on her hips. "Face it Uncle Cid; Yuffie always wins."

Yuffie grinned, pumping her fist in the air. "That's my girl!"

Cid grumbled as they headed towards the battle command center.

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Vincent lowered Cerberus as the monster-dog-like Azul fell to the floor. He holstered the gun and turned away, believing the battle finished.

Azul growled and got to his feet, running at Vincent. Vincent whirled around as the creature's paw slammed into him, sending him flying into the railing surrounding their battle field. Vincent grunted in pain as he fell to the floor.

"Stand." Azul growled. "Stand! This isn't over!"

Vincent struggled to his feet, feeling the burning rage of Chaos fighting to be freed again.

"Good. Now, come and fight-!" Vincent was there before he even finished the sentence; his claw buried deep into Azul's armored chest and chaotic power flowing free.

"Why you!" Azul grunted angrily before the power exploded.

Vincent felt the demon take full control as Azul flew back.

The smoke cleared and Azul transformed to his normal form, wheezing. He stared upon Chaos as it growled and flapped its wings.

"Chaos." Azul grunted.

The demon growled and smirked in sick pleasure as it lifted Azul's cannon with ease. It threw the cannon and grinned as it ran Azul through.

Azul grunted in agony and looked down at the gun that ran him through, gasping for breath. He looked back up at Chaos and managed a small smirk as blood leaked from the corner of his mouth. "It appears you were more of a beast than I. I'll see you again Vincent…" he backed up. "In hell!"

Chaos conjured up its energy and shot a beam of it at Azul, sending him through the railing and into the black abyss below.

"Hail Weiss!" He shouted, laughing till his death.

Vincent tried to control the beast and it fought against him, slashing out at nothing as it raged a battle against him in his mind. Azul's words still rang in his mind. _He's right. I am more of a beast than he._

_0_

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_0_

"Kiara!"

Kiara waved as Tifa ran over.

"There you are! Vincent's worried sick about you!"

"Where is Daddy?"

"Fighting now." The martial artist explained before looking over at Yuffie. "You need to go meet up with him."

Yuffie nodded. "Gotcha." She gave a small wave to Kiara before taking off. "See ya later kiddo!" Then she was gone.

"Come on Kiara. Let's go call Vincent and tell him you're ok." Tifa said.

Kiara nodded.

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Vincent lay on the floor of the still descending elevator, breathing heavily from the transformation back to his original self. _Lucrecia… _He thought. _You…?_

He looked to his right and saw a familiar phone lying there. He reached over and picked it up, examining it as he stood.

"Shelke?"

His phone rang and he reached for it, flipping it open.

"Daddy!"

Relief coursed through him when he heard her familiar voice. "I'm so glad you're safe Kiara. I was worried. How's Cid?"

"Uncle Cid's ok, he was fighting with Yuffie again."

"Then I'll take that as a sign that he's definitely alright, though, I think he'd even fight with Yuffie on his death bed."

Kiara giggled then sobered. "Where are you daddy? Are you coming back soon?"

"What did I promise you on the airship?"

"That you would come back."

"That's right. And I keep my promises. I want you to tell Tifa I'm almost for me alright?"

"Alright. Good luck daddy. I love you."

"Thank you little one. I love you too." He could practically hear her smile as he hung up, looking towards the large door that lead to Deepground as the elevator came to a stop.

_Deepground. Shinra's dark secret. Three years of hell below. _Vincent thought as the door opened and he walked through.

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_After beating Weiss Incarnate_

Vincent watched as Weiss disappeared into the lifestream, thinking maybe the battle was finally over.

"Vincent!" He turned and looked at Yuffie who ran into the room, grinning from ear to ear and pumping her fists in the air. "We did it!"

Vincent smiled and nodded at her enthusiasm but the smile faded when he felt the life stream surge up behind him. He whirled around as the lifestream shot at him and he pushed Yuffie roughly out of harm's way.

"Vincent!" Yuffie screamed as the lifestream hit him. She wanted to run and help him but had no choice but to run out of the way, leaping from the room and onto the roof. She watched Vincent as Chaos took over then had to turn and run, out of the reach of the lifestream as Omega formed.

A/N: Ok so I decided to put this extra chap, I wasn't going to but my friend convinced me so here it is, hope you enjoy. This story is officially over, no more chaps.


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